The Ambassador of Carcosa(Cthulhu Mythos/Gamer Power SI)

[TheEmpOfMankind]

Beta Read by Rocketmce, and the one who helped me out when I got stuck and helped me gain inspiration to write this fic.


Ambassador of Carcosa

Chapter: Prologue


I am unsure as to what is happening. My eyes feel as if they are on fire, my brain feels like jelly with its glass shattered. My body, from my head down to my toes, feels like I'm submerged in water, yet it feels too smooth to be water. Fortunately, the pain dulls and I open my eyes. Then, my brain screamed.


Despite that, I look around in grotesque amazement and horror at this place yet not's architecture. Buildings made of harsh yellow material, similar to sandstone yet quite obviously not. The streets and walkways, if I could even call the impossibly angled concepts that seemed similar yet oh so far from their concepts. I looked upwards, or perhaps it was downward further, towards and down to the sky, which was blacker than black yet its stars were blacker still, to the point they glowed with an unnatural light. The stars glowed the darkest black that somehow looped around and turned into a shining light. The impossible city, even if I could call it that, felt like someone had the concept of a city, yet they had twisted and bent it like bones broken in some sort of horrific car accident.


I desperately closed my eyes when I heard far off screaming, yet my mouth was open. Me and my brain screamed as it tried making sense of what it saw, but I know what I saw. Black Stars? Setting twin suns? This is Carcosa, city of Ḩ̷̹̩̩̲͇̀̋å̵̦͈͙̒́́̎͊͑s̸̡̧̱̖̮̜̤̓̊t̷̹͑͛̿u̴̧͋̈̏̍͝r̴̹̯̱͉̙̩͒̅͂̊͠͠ͅ, or to most, the King in Yellow.


Why am I here? Why am I in a city that's read about in a book. Even then, I never searched for this city, for it was fiction, fake, a thing of Robert Chambers imagination. By all accounts this isn't real, yet here I am, standing in an impossible place in an impossible world. I touched the wall of one of the many "buildings," and even with my eyes scrunched tightly shut, I could almost see the sandstone-like material. It feels grainy, yet smooth, solid, yet malleable like gum or cake batter.


I opened my eyes again, and my screaming stopped, and my jellied brain stopped screaming with it. I could still see the black stars that shine bright, alongside a blacker sky with puffs of clouds in it. Yet impossibly, I am within a whole other place, a vast field of wheat. Giant stones litter the landscape, faint yet illegible carvings cover their surfaces. What once was one of the many impossible structures, is one of many stones in this field. Yet I recognize these stones, and recognize this field.


I had died, this was the only explanation there is. Yet I don't understand why I am here. I never searched for Carcosa, yet here I am, standing in the remains of that great fictional city. I pray this isn't the actual afterlife, but a lucid death dream before moving onto the true one. I sat down, and pray that this dream would end. Yet it didn't, I watched as the cold breeze, I could only assume it was cold for I couldn't feel it, ruffled the wheat, which I also couldn't properly feel. I watched as, for what felt like an eternity, the black stars and their unknown constellations move across the night sky, yet even their movement felt and looked wrong, they moved like they're a part of a massive curtain in the vast sky, pushing apart endlessly.


I pondered what caused me to arrive in this land. Perhaps it was my favoritism regarding The King of Yellow that brought me here. Perhaps my death, which now that I can barely recall, brought either pity or amusement to whatever brought me here.


I sighed, and rubbed my eyes. I felt no exhaustion, yet I knew I wanted to sleep. Yet when I closed my eyes, and leaned back against a tombstone that could possibly be mine, only to abruptly open them as I heard the wheat rustle. My eyes scan the horizon, seeing nothing from my low viewpoint. Slowly, I stand up, and then looked at the horizon, then I turned around and peered behind the old tombstone. At first I see nothing, hear nothing. Then, I heard the faint sound of flapping in the breeze, and slowly turned my head. There, behind one of the many tombstones, was a part of a yellow cloak. Slowly, and carefully I approached the tombstone with the yellow cloak.


Then it suddenly vanished, I didn't blink, and I didn't look away, it was simply there one moment and then gone the next. I heard it again, quickly turning towards it and then running towards the tombstone that had it. Again I ran, and again I just barely miss it. This pattern repeats, going further and further, to the point that while far enough to see, I normally wouldn't hear it's flapping, yet I did.


It repeated, and repeated, and repeated again. All the way until I reached the sandy shores of Hali, the lake that stands by Carcosa, and another city I cannot remember the name of. Within the mist-covered and black watered lake, only a few dozen feet ahead of me, floated a yellow coat, its bright color was jarring thanks to how it contrasted with the lake. My mind was spilt, on one hand I could turn around, and simply leave, guaranteeing that I live the life of loneliness in a vast, empty wasteland, and on the other hand, I could jump into the lake and grab the yellow cloak and doom myself to an either more horrific fate, or a fate better than eternal loneliness.


I closed my eyes, and hardened my resolve, and took my first step into the black water. Almost immediately I was surprised, unlike the land, I could feel the lake, the water felt smoother than the concept of smoothness around my foot, and shockingly warm despite the constant mist and chilled air, and when I pulled my foot out, it was completely dry. I put my other foot into the water, and began walking, then swimming, towards the yellow cloak.


My hands reached out, and snatched up the cloak within them. Then suddenly, it vanishes, and as suddenly as it vanishes, it reappears around me. I blink in confusion momentarily, and then feel my mind burn. My body stiffens as the burning in my mind increases. I could feel invisible tendrils wrap around my body, peeling my skin and pulling open my eyes. I feel myself sink into the water, the invisible, yet now somehow visible tendrils tugging me into its black depths. I could feel them manipulate my burning body like it was clay, or perhaps putty, I cannot tell, nor I can see what it's doing to me.


It continues for what feels like an eternity, and then some, before the feeling subsides. I was left there, alone in the deep, black waters of Hali. The burning of my body, and the warmth of the water, is now gone, and only an icy cold chill remains. I'm completely submerged, yet I do not drown, yet I dare not attempt to inhale. I continue sinking, I know I am because I could feel my back eventually press against the wet sand beneath the water. I lay there for a while, and simply closed my eyes. Another eternity goes by as I lay on the sand with my eyes closed as the cold only increases, before something tugs me out of the water. The sudden motion causes me to gasp, inhaling a lungful of salty water.


Once fully out of the water, I cough and sputter, gripping the wood of a dock while I feel someone help me by hitting my back. Forcing me to cough and vomit the salty water. My vision blurs as my hot tears fill it. I stay there for a long, long moment, inhaling mouthfuls of ice cold air as my body shivers from the cold. My savior helps me to my feet. "T-thank y-you." I tell him, still looking at the dock.


"you're welcome- what the hell?!" He stumbles backwards, "The fuck is wrong with your eyes?!" I felt surprised at his sudden change of tone, going from kind to scared in a second, another layer of surprise came from me seeing his dated clothes. A tattered, dull brown woolen suit with a stereotypical newsboy hat with dress shoes that look like they'll fall apart any second now.


"What do you mean?" I asked the strange man, I quickly turn towards the calm water below and see my reflection in its rippling surface, my eyes widen in as shock feels my system, red slitted eyes with pale skin and pointed ears-

System 1.0


Eldritch Gamer system


Name: Benjamin Diov

Race: Human

Subrace: Dhampir

Pantheon: Hastur's Court

Title: Ambassador


Classes:

None

Skills:

None

Spells:

None

Items:

Yellow Cloak(Religious Importance)[equipped]

Shoes(Sneakers)[not equipped]

T-Shirt[equipped]

Pants(Jeans)[equipped]

Socks (ankle high)[not equipped]

R Hand Weapon:

None

L Hand Weapon: None


Status: Freezing

Click to shrink...

I freeze in shock, and begin to panic. My eyes darted around, noticing how old everything and everyone and their clothes looked. I looked at the still surprised man, and ran for it. The wood of the dock creaked and cracked as my feet sent me lurching forward, past the man who pulled me out of the water and into the bright, loud city I found myself in. I ran and ran, hot tears filled my eyes and I collapsed into an empty alleyway, and sobbed. Everything that has happened today, to my apparent death, to my experiences in Carcosa, to now, hits my chest like a sledgehammer. I pressed my back against the cold brick of a building and slid down to the cold ground, my body shaking from my sobs and the cold. Eventually, everything in my vision darkens as I pass out from my anguished cries

 

[TheEmpOfMankind]

Ambassador of Carcosa

Chapter: Boston? Boston?!


??? POV


A field of wheat gently ripples as a soft breeze runs through their heads and stems, gently bending them away from its gentle air currents. A tiny field mouse makes its presence known by accidentally bumping into some of the wheat from down below. It scurries about, squeaking and occasionally pausing to sniff the air and scratch its ears. Its head suddenly snaps towards its left, and it rapidly scurries towards its goal. That being a tiny grasshopper nibbling on a wheat's stem. Quick as a flash, the mouse snatches up the small grasshopper in its tiny paws and begins nibbling at its head.


The tiny field mouse's meal is cut short, as a leather boot crushes it with a quiet squeak of pain and a disgusting crunch. Leaving behind only a flattened, bloodied corpse of the mouse behind. Yet the offending man wearing the boot didn't seem to care as he, and many others, walked towards their own goal. Bright yellow bandanas and handkerchiefs are jarringly bright against the full brown of the men's clothes, while the women wear bright yellow dresses alongside yellow or black hats. Children, both theirs or not, continue this odd color scheme as they follow behind the adults. Upon the backs of three men are large sacks, one per man. Something inside them wriggles.


Their goal, their destination in this field is quickly shown. A figure sits upon a gray, mossy boulder. Their face is completely hidden in the shadows of their yellow hooded robe. Upon the boulder is a symbol, colored a bright yellow against the dull green and gray hues of the rock. The symbol is a small circle of yellow, and a small space separates the circle from three twisting lines, or perhaps tendrils, forming their religious symbol.


The men set the sacks on the ground in front of the rock as the figure stands up, their movements smoother than that of the surface of a lake. The men, women, and children all stand on their knees as the figure speaks. He speaks of the wonderous city of Carcosa and its impossible geometry and beauty, of its warm black and misty lake, to its bright black stars that shine in the sky. He preaches of its yellow cloaked king, not daring to use its actual name, but rather its title; The King in Yellow. He preaches of salvation from an afterlife's wasteland in this wonderous city. He preaches of Carcosa, he preaches about how they'll never, ever go hungry, never will they be freezing in the cold, never will be killed by illness or their fellows. He preaches of their twisted paradise.


"So come forth my sheep, for I am your shepherd." He swings his hand in a grand gesture towards the three sacks, "Open these sacks, and sacrifice these offerings onto me, so that I may one day gain the strength to bring you to your true home!" The men rip open the sacs, revealing three different people.


One was a pedophile, who's eyes, even though they knew of what would happen soon, couldn't help but glance at the children with their disgusting desire. One was a rapist, as seen for how the moment he was freed from the bag, he attempted to grab at one of the women's dresses while grinning perversely before being slammed onto the ground. The final man was a member of the infamous Ku Klux Klan, white robes and all, he said nothing and did nothing, already he resigned himself to his fate.


"Shed their blood by sheep, and let your shepherd feed upon it." Almost immediately, the men pulled out sickles hidden by their thick coats, the women pulled out butcher's knives from their dresses, and the children pulled out small broken glass bottles. Like hungry wolves they began their divine work, using their weapons to kill the three despicable people. Their screams of pain and mercy go unheard as no one but the members of this cult can hear them.


If one could see under the figure's hood, they'd hear his quiet, insane laughter, and his bloodthirsty, fanged grin.


Benjamin POV


I wake up with a start, clutching my chest in shock of my dream. Its lucidity made it seem as if I was there. As if I was the one watching the mouse, as if I was the one watching that human sacrifice occur. It was surreal, and very, very disturbing to see. Was it a vision? A warning? Something telling me of what's to come?


I don't know. I don't know. I've always been told that dreams can be warnings, or symbols of something that's happening inside one's mind. Be it stress or grief. I don't know what it truly means, but I do know one thing, that yellow robed figure in that dream isn't me. If it is? I won't become a twisted parody of a priest.


I release a sigh, my breath becoming a faint mist in the wintery air, it has to be winter because my body now has a thin layer of snow covering it. I'm mildly surprised I don't have frostbite, maybe it's because of what I saw before my panic attack? It looked like a gamer interface, I think I'll check just to be sure.


"System." I said aloud in the wintery air and a screen appeared in my vision. It showed me the basic things, name and races, that being Human and Dhampir, and the fact I have no skills or spells accessible at this time. I can't help but stare at the section labeled Pantheon though, and felt a deep anger well up within my core.


I sigh once more, getting angry won't help my situation at all, in fact it'll make it worse I reckon. I look at the screen once more, and notice it doesn't have any of my stats on it-

Stats;

STR: 60

30 12

Dex: 80

40 16

Con: 25

12 5

Int: 70

35 14

APP: 45

22 9

Siz: 65

32 13

POW: 60

30 12

EDU: 60

30 12

Click to shrink...

Note to self, remember key words in regards to the gamer system. Alright, and the usual skill a gamer usually gets, observe-

S̴̢̨̧̲̮͕̪͔͙͙̳̳̼̪̳̈́͂͋̍K̷̨̓Ḯ̶̢̹̪͇̬̖̖̺̻̬̜͕̹̓̊́̅̄̒̎͜L̷̛̝̺̿̀̌͑̑͂L̶̡̮̬̭̪̯̝̤̤͍̜̈̍̚͜ ̷̰̹̻̘͇̥̗̙̘̎̈͌͑͆̈̾̋͆̈́͜͝͝͠N̷̨̨̢̢̛͉̰͎̤̪͎͚̬̬̈́̈́̍̚͜͜O̸̧̧̼͚̩̙͍̘̔͑̏͋̒̈̾͆̐̌̋͘͜T̵̫̮̼̱͎̅̎̅͌͋̏̓́̋́̄̀̕͘͜͠ ̸̢̀Ů̸̗͒͌̓͐̀͑͝͝N̵̨̘͕̤̋̚ͅL̷̨͓̙̤͈̋̐̆͂̾̍͛̚̚͘͝͝O̸̞̠̟̹̳̭͒̿͋̋̚͜C̷̛͖̭̈́̈́̔̀̌́̊̕͝K̷̜̞̺̂͂͆̋̕͠͠E̷̢͉̟̲̙͉̮̬̮̟̗͔̪̒͋̎̄̑̍D̶̹̠̲̏͆͛͂̔̅̑̆̌̆̓͆!̴̢̨̛̘̰̟̜͇̀̉͗͛̑̕

Click to shrink...

"Son of a bitch!" I grasped my head as a white hot shot of pain pierced my skull. My world turns into a bright yellow color. I close my eyes to block out the vivid and bright color that fills my vision.


"Oi!" I open my eyes and turn to look at the voice, it's the same guy who pulled me out of the water. "Are yah alright there pal?"


"N-no." Isn't that a Boston accent? "I-I don't know what's happening." I tell him honestly, "one moment I was taking a walk, the next…"


"Yah end up here in tha harbah." He walks up to me, and holds out his hand for me, "Not tha worst story I heard when a come tah people ending up in tha harbor, but it ain't that worst." I gratefully grab his hand and shakily stand up, the yellow slowly fades away. "Tha names Robert, Robert Manton. Sorry bout that surprise at tha docks."


"No worries, I don't blame you, I was shocked to see that I had new additions to my body,. name's Benjamin by the way, Benjamin Diov."


Robert scrunches his face up in thought, his hazel eyes matching his expression, "That Russian or sumthin? And what do yah mean new additions?"


I shrug, "Maybe? I don't know if it is or isn't, mom never told me. As for this?" I point towards my face, "I used to have blue eyes, and non pale skin."


Robert blinks, "I'm thinking that just like with the harbor, yah dunno how yah got 'em?"


"Not a fucking clue. Where am I anyways?" I look around, the architecture of the buildings outside the alley look reminiscent of the good ol' nineteen twenties, "and… what's the date?" I could feel a sinking feeling, similar to that of what happened in lake Hali, enter my stomach.


"Well pal." He cuffs my shoulder with his hand, "Yahs in Boston, last I checked, tha year is 1923, can't remember the date, I think it's the twenty second or twenty third of January?"


"I am a long, long way from home then." I said aloud, I could feel that anger well up inside me again.


"What yah mean Benji? Can't be that far-"


"I live in Detroit, Michigan." I said, putting emphasis on both the city and state. Then, Robert says the three words that sum up my current thought process.


"What the fuck?"

 

[TheEmpOfMankind]

Ambassador of Carcosa

Chapter: Blood and Knowledge.


Benjamin POV


"Thanks for this Robert." I genuinely thank my, I guess one could say new friend or acquaintance, as he takes me to one of the very, very few abandoned warehouses on the docks. I'm infinitely glad that Robert didn't push beyond the typical "how the fuck" questions and took me here.


"Eh, yah's welcome. Stay here as long as yah need tah." He leads me over to one of the only barrels not being hogged by several other fellow homeless. "Yah gonna be okay?"


"Just need some time alone for a bit Robert, might explore Boston a bit later." I shrugged, it's not technically a lie, I fully intend on being alone for at least a few minutes before heading out to the Boston Library. Knowledge is power after all.


"Suit yahself, try not to get into any trouble now." Robert says jokingly as he walks away, probably to do something else other than worry that I'll be taking a dip in the harbor.


I hover my hands over the flame at a good distance away, careful not to burn myself. I idly note the fairly quick loss of the Freezing status as only a minute goes by. Then again, I don't feel cold anymore, so no more shivering till I get that status again. I cross my arms, looking into the orange flames as I think to myself about what's happened. The more I think, the more confused I am about the why of it all. Why me, why bring me both to the city of Carcosa, and its ruins. So many questions, and quite literally no answers.


Knowing my luck, I'm probably going to go insane before learning of my purpose, beyond that of, as my "title" says, Ambassador. It's kind of funny now that I think about it. The Hanged King, an SCP that's based off of the King in Yellow's play, has an ambassador called the Ambassador of Alagadda, me being an ambassador of the city and story it's based off of. In speaking of the story, that's the primary reason why I'm going to head to the Boston Library.


If I can find locations, such as Innsmouth, or mentions of any other Eldritch shit like the actual King in Yellow's play. I'd say his name, but I can't remember if saying his name will do anything to me, or to anyone around me, or if it's just a DnD thing. Tucking away that particular future problem for later, if I can get confirmation that I definitely am in a Lovecraftian universe, then I can at least know what I should prepare myself for what's to come. To an extent, I don't know much beyond the popular three, that one Netflix show that has Lovecraft's work as a series of hour long episodes, and the necronomicon. Or is that an Ash/Evil Dead thing?


"Other than that, I'm completely in the dark." I mutter to myself, and begin heading towards the Library, as for how I'm going to get there? Well, there's no harm in asking for directions. This should probably only take about a half hour, an hour tops.


rcnka dftkhq POV


Unknown location…


I walk down the familiar halls of my home away from home. It's my secret place, hidden from my most trusted confidants, every last one. Hidden from my family, hidden from those who would foolishly judge me. Hidden from all but my God and myself. It's the only space where I can comfortably converse with them.


I enter my special room, upon the six sides that make the room, each one is covered in archaic symbols relating to the one I worship. The one known to me as, and the only name I'll ever use in connection to it


"My Dark Emperor?" I ask, speaking both in my native tongue, and the Nameless Tongue, the first and only gift my God has granted me. "I have returned with wondrous news."


A black figure, in the shape of a man, yet too dark, too stiff, too smooth, steps out while also forming from the shadows of my room. His head had the headless of the mighty Pharaohs of ancient Egypt, yet has horns that seem to be both separate and a part of the regal headdress. His legs that of a satyr's, yet are covered in the long and silvery toga that covers his shadow black body. Multiple silvery orbs of light surround him, bathing the room in a silvery glow yet not touching his body.


My God says nothing, yet says everything to me. "The plan is running smoothly, I plan on making my move within the final four months of the year my Dark Emperor, soon the world will be mine, and by extension yours. Everything is going according to plan." I see him reach out, caressing my cheek like one would a child who has done a good job. His hand feels like a comforting summer's night, and I could feel loss as my God removes his hand from my face. "Soon, the Spear shall be in my hand, and I'll use it to open the gateway through." My hazel eyes gain a determined look.


Once more, he says nothing yet everything, and leaves me within the room. "To this I swear, for I am-"


Benjamin POV…


Two, fucking, hours. That's how long it took to find the Boston Library. Next time I'll just steal a map to avoid being pointed in the wrong direction by people who get a kick outta making someone lost in Boston. I heavily sigh and make my way up the steps. Despite it being a weekday, it's surprisingly slow going. Meaning I can find a book and skim it without much issue.


The library is large, but thankfully is easy to navigate. I quickly found a book simply labeled Massachusetts and its great locations, and quickly skimmed it, finding familiar names such as Dunwich, I only know of that because of Fallout 3 and 4, Innsmouth, vaguely recall the name thanks to Far Harbor being related to that according to a few people on youtube, with a few other ones such as Arkham and Kingsport, both I don't recognize, and am hoping it's a case of me not knowing.


I continue skimming through the book till I reach its end, and a small piece of ancient yellowed paper falls to the ground like a leaf in autumn. Curious about its arcane scribbles, I pick it up and immediately it vanishes into my inventory.

Inventory

New Item!

Click to shrink...

Curious, I pick the new item, and my jaw drops in surprise.

New Item

-Page Fragment of the Necronomicon.

Single use item, will give you one(1) random spell or skill. Costs 1 sanity point to use.

Click to shrink...

"Sanity status."

Sanity: 75

Click to shrink...

Well, that's not too horrible a cost, I use the Page Fragment. Suddenly a sharp pain erupts from my teeth for a split second, causing me to release a sharp hiss of pain.

Learned: Vampires Bite

Click to shrink...

Experimentally, I run my tongue across my teeth, my fangs have grown a bit larger. I could almost feel giddy at learning my first spell, but also mild concern that it doesn't tell me anything about its abilities. Maybe it's a bite attack that siphons a part of an enemy's health to me? I'm actually curious now.


I quickly walked out the library and began my little hunt for anyone that I can use this spell on with little to no consequence. It's Boston, and it's the 1920's. I'm sure someone is gonna do something stupid or fucked up according to 21st century standards-


"Help!" My head immediately snaps towards the, seemingly ignored, sound of someone crying out for help and immediately headed towards it. I can quickly see why the cry for help was ignored as I peek around a corner, a white man, in a fairly nice suit, pinning a black woman to a wall. At first glance, I'd assume it's a mugging, but from how he's fumbling with his pants and disgustingly burying his face in his neck as the woman sobs.


Needless to say, I've found my prime target. With a barely contained snarl I ran forwards, and slammed my fist into his head, causing him to stumble and trip over a trash can. Turning my head slightly and my eyes not leaving the man I just punched, I mutter "Get a doctor, someone who won't blame you for what's gonna happen, and it's not gonna be for me." She looks at me in shock and surprise, and quickly runs off.


"Hey you ni-!" How about no?


"Vampires Bite." I muttered, my fangs gaining a red glow to them as I dash forwards, with speed that surprised me, and bit into his neck. His blood, despite coming from such a filthy person like him, tasted delicious, like root beer or Sweet Iced Tea. It lasted less than a second though, because immediately after I bit him, he went limp as if whatever was controlling him cut his strings as if he was a puppet.

+1 CON


CON: 26

Click to shrink...

I looked down at the corpse as I dropped it to the cold and snow coated ground. Emotions swirled in my brain, shock, disgust, anger. Yet I felt one emotion that quickly swallowed up the other emotions, neutrality. I felt nothing for this man, and began walking away. I made sure my face was hidden by my cloak's hood as a walk became a run, because I wanted to get as far, far away from the area as possible. I simply didn't want to get caught should the police get involved.


I found the warehouse, and went to a dark and secluded corner to think. I felt no guilt for killing him, no guilt for leaving the corpse of that man in that alleyway. No guilt for removing the life of someone who probably had a family who cared for them. That concerned me, that I felt a complete and utter lack of guilt, yet at the same time, it was comforting. Comforting that I don't have to do mental gymnastics to justify to myself, that if I needed to kill someone again, I wouldn't have to go through that trauma.


Maybe it's because of my overall opinion of people of his type. Maybe it's a part of this Gamer System. Maybe it's because of something the King in Yellow did to me while I was in the lake. Maybe being sent to the 1920's is a blessing in disguise, cause if someone described anything to the police about me, well, I can always skip town.


I think that's what I'll do. Sorry Robert, turns out I did cause some trouble. I just hope that once I leave it won't be on your head.

 

[TheEmpOfMankind]

Ambassador of Carcosa

Chapter: Shaded Abyss


??? POV


The sounds of wet smacks fill the empty halls of a dilapidated building, alongside the panicked breaths of a woman, running from her foe. "Oh god, oh god!" She repeats multiple times as she runs, desperately pulling down various things in a vain attempt to stop it. From old, rusted lockers, to desks and chairs. Her dirty blonde hair, matted with dirt and blood, most of the latter coming from a gash on the back of her head, flails wildly in the air as she runs. Her green eyes dilated in pure fear as she continued her run.


"Please, please no! I'm sorry! Please don't!" She begs, but the creature didn't care to even acknowledge her pleas. To it, she was just another morsel to sate its hunger. It enjoys her fear, for the adrenaline will serve as its seasoning. It releases a sound, akin to a laugh, but now no longer has the vocal cords to make it sound so. Instead, coming from its scaled and sharp toothed mouth came a series of short, echoing bark-like sounds as it picked up its speed. Releasing a horrific but loud shriek akin to a whale's scream as it lunges for her.


She luckily dodges her death, only gaining a large, bloody gash on her back as its claws tore the back of her dress. The woman doesn't stop running, dashing into an empty bathroom, hiding in and locking one of its ten stalls. Predictably in the last one, but whether or not the creature knew that she didn't know. She could hear its bare feet smack against the floor as it leisurely walked into the bathroom, letting out a low echoing grumble as it did so.


The woman curls up into a fetal position while sitting on a toilet, keeping her feet out of sight and desperately trying to silence her panicked breaths. Hot tears begin pouring from her eyes as the creature slowly opens the stall doors, one by one. Each door hits a stall wall with a soft, yet loud in the near silent bathroom, as the creature opens the stalls. When it is the stall that she is in turn to be opened, it doesn't thanks to her locking it. The creature begins shaking the door, making it harder and harder for her to silence herself. Before the door could fall off thanks to the creature shaking it, it stops, and slowly walks away with a warble.


Once she no longer hears its footsteps as it leaves the bathroom, she sighs a sigh of relief, and carefully crawls out from underneath the stall, making sure not to bump into anything as she makes her way out of the bathroom. She slowly leans out of the doorway, and looks to the right, nothing. She then slowly looks to the left, expecting it to be there, and yet it wasn't. Quickly she looks up, and once more, nothing.


She carefully begins walking down the way she came, the creature would never think she'd double back on herself. That thought process ends however, the moment she turns a corner. She begins shaking as the creature lets out a low warble. It then slowly opens its maw, the smell of dead fish fills her nose, and she does the only thing she can do, scream.


Her scream of terror is cut short as the creature lunges, its maw filling her vision as it-


Benjamin POV


I wake up with a shout, clutching my rapidly beating heart at the nightmare. The second time in a row. Once is an accident, twice is coincidence, and I don't think I need a third to figure out this is gonna be a pattern. These dreams, these fucking dreams have both been so very vivid so far. It's like I'm watching a movie in 4-D both of those times. I should really get a journal to write these things down


I look around, it's early morning, if I leave now I can hitch a ride, illegally unfortunately, on a train to skip town. Silently, I walk out the warehouse, but a voice catches me by surprise as I shut the door. "It was yah, wasn't it?" Quickly, I whirl around and face the voice, pausing when I recognize who it is.


"R-Robert? What do you mean?" I asked him, desperately trying to make myself seem as innocent as possible.


"Cops are looking for someone in a yellow cloak with a hood, wanted for tha murder of Johnathan Francis. Had a weapon that left two holes in his neck and somehow took all his blood too." He states calmly with an unreadable expression.


I can't help but sigh, "Yes… Yes I killed him."


Robert crosses his arms, "Why?"


"Because he was trying to rape a black lady." I whispered, snarling at the memory. I could hear Robert sigh and mutter something under his breath. It was silent for a long moment before he speaks again.


"Fucker had it coming, kept on targeting black folk and other 'lesser' people cause he knows all the white cops ain't gonna believe his victims. I'm just… we really don't need this kinda heat, but that's probably why yah's sneaking out, aren't yah?" He states, his voice a mixture of being accusatory, and sadness.


"Yeah…" I honestly tell him. "I'm sorry Robert, you're good people, so are the people in the warehouse. Even though I spent less than a day here I can tell you that. I'm sorry." I said, I could feel my emotions start whirling again, disappointment at myself, anger at myself, irritation that this is happening. But my mind calms down as Robert places his hand on my shoulder.


"I appreciate yah apology. Can't exactly say much, so I'll say this." He closes his eyes and sighs, "Be careful out there yah here? Something really fucky has been happening all over the state and beyond. Keep yah wits about yah." He smiles, "and another thing." He playfully punched my shoulder. "Write or visit once in a while, kay bud?"


I return the smile, my fangs peeking out a bit, "Thanks Robert." As he takes a step back, I begin walking away.


"Hey!" I turn around at his voice and catch whatever he tosses at me.

Switchblade acquired.

Switchblade: A Self defense weapon, useful for cutting thin things such as paper and fabric.

Deals ? Damage

Click to shrink...

"I'll make sure to use this well Rob." I promise him.


"Yah better!" He smiles and waves at me as I walk off. I smile to myself, I probably won't be seeing Robert again, but if I do? Well, I hope to repay him for his kindness, one day, one day I suppose.

----Ambassador----​

Finding a train station was fairly easy once you find, or rather steal, a map next to a passed out drunk. Turns out Robert was right about the cops, I saw quite a few pictures of my shadowy face with my yellow hood, it seems like they just splotched some yellow paint on the hood part and called it a day. I quickly folded one up and it immediately went into my inventory. I smiled to myself, because I'll be keeping that as a personal souvenir.


I looked at the two available trains, one northbound while the other southbound. As I decided what train I wanted to pick, I listened to the people around me. Some talks were mundane, mostly about their mornings and plans, the only mildly interesting one coming from the northbound trains conductor. He was arguing with his train engineer about something regarding the train's wheels.


Well that settles my decision- "Oi! You there!" I quickly turn my head towards the voice, about twenty or so feet away are a pair of cops, and they're heading straight towards me.


"Shit!" I exclaimed, hopping off the train station's deck and hopping between the station cars. I am immensely glad for my high DEX because I easily outrun the cops. However, they're quite persistent and are calling for backup. So I need to hide, right now. I quickly hop out from between the trains as I hear the whistle from both of them go off.


As the trains begin to move, I panic. If I don't get on right now, I'll be spending a lot of time behind bars, and I am not having that happen. Quickly I desperately look for an open car, or something to grab onto.


I must have rolled a secret luck roll, because within seconds I find a partially open train car, I grab the side of the door just as the train begins chugging faster. Quickly I pull myself in, just in time to see the policemen begin chasing the train, failing to grab onto it. I cackle like a hyena as they both throw their hats down in frustration.


I shut the door fully and observe the train car, it's dimly lit inside, the light bulbs flicker every now and again. I could see boxes, barrels, sacks of food and similar goods. I could hear my stomach grumble in hunger, and despite my better judgment, I opened a sack of apples and pulled out a couple. I look at the apples, seeing no holes or soft spots. I take a big bite out of one, and hum in joy as I hungrily ate it. Give me some good ol' caramel and this'll be a better meal, but I ain't complaining.


I wandered around the car, looking at the various crates and barrels in it. Something I very quickly grew bored of. Well, there's one tried and true method to a situation like this, something that's been around for a long, long time. I make a simple bed, layering some empty sacks on each other and folding a few to make a pillow. I quickly lay down on the fairly uncomfortable "bed," but it'll have to do for now. I'll just be taking a nice ol' nap. What's the worst that can happen?

----Ambassador----​

I don't dream of anything this time around, just an inky black darkness alongside the patterns I normally see, that being thousands of arrows and tiny little dots. Only being awoken when the train whistles. It's… nice actually, it's calm, peaceful, and the occasional whistle is mildly annoying but short lived.


I wasn't even bothered when some familiar music started playing. It was comforting, something familiar in an unfamiliar place.


…


Wait just one fucking second.


My eyes snapped open and darted around the room. I see no one, but I still can hear the music coming from somewhere in the train car. "Seems like sleeping beauty finally woke up." Why does he sound like Knockout? "Ah, questions such as that are… irrelevant dontcha think?" He walks out from behind a stack of crates.


His appearance mimics that of a salesman, and at a simple glance he'd seem like a normal human with a weird choice in hair color. But if you actually looked you could tell he wasn't a human. A bang of hair merges into his ivory skin, giving it an appearance of a bloody gash that does not bleed. His gray and tanned hat's red band has a gaudy gold clasp that is round yet weirdly shaped. His left eye looks like fire that is frozen, and is angular in shape, his right eye is in the shape of a capital D, and is a flat white. He has a wide grin, yet his mouth's interior is a solid and flat white. In his left hand he holds a large, round, and vaguely clover shaped trinket, and on his right he holds a large suitcase with a symbol that consists of multiple circles and a downward arrow. His suit consists of a white undershirt and a gray tie with a golden arrow pointing down on it. He wears a long red undercoat and a shorter tanned gray overcoat. Also the four large tentacles coming from, what I assume, his back.


"Are you done checking me out or what?" He smirks, "cause, times a waistin' for you and I's little chat." He opens the large and gaudy trinket, and looks at it like a pocket watch for a second before closing it.


"Who the hell are you?" I responded, ignoring what he said at the start.


"Ah, now you're asking the good questions!" His grin somehow becomes wider as he takes off his hat, his long hair staying in place in spite of his quick bow of introduction, "My name's G̵͉͍͉̙̞̿̀̿̾ŗ̵̌̇͘ä̶̟́̇̑͐͂ż̷̌͛͜h̷̖͠e̴̢̪̊̀̀̊͛ but you may, to avoid making someone go bonkers, call me Graz." He straightens up, and I noticed that his movements are stiff, yet fluid.


"Why are you here then? What do you want from me?" I slowly stand up, showing my fangs, though he doesn't seem to be concerned about it.


"Why? Because I wanted to." Graz shrugs, "As for what I want? To see you grow my gold sir." At my confused expression he elaborates, "You see, your master, Hastur, hasn't done anything for a long, long time, the most he had done was his play." He opens his suitcase, revealing it to have a space inside that is as black as Carcosa's stars yet, seemed to have the properties of water without it spilling out of the suitcase. After a few moments of his hand being within the suitcase, he pulls out a copy of said play before shoving it back within his suitcase.


"What does this have to do with me?"


"Everything my good friend, because you are the first big thing Hastur has done, no not in that way, in this world. You're the ambassador of his city. Something that won't stand, at least for The Sleeper of the Deep, I'm pretty sure that the Chaos Lord doesn't really care." He shrugs.


"Wait are you talking about-" Graz covers my mouth with a tentacle.


"First rule, names have power when it comes to the Godly one's, saying even a syllable of either of their names other than Hastur or my own will result in… let's say you don't wanna poke a sleeping bear alright?"


"What's your stance with them?" I ask, curious yet suspicious.


"I'm neutral,I have no direct ties to any of the gods, both them and the others. However, I am a merchant first and foremost, and an eldritch creature second." He smiles unnaturally again, his face now stretching like rubber as he does so. "Of course, I'll need some currency if you wanna get stuff from me, that being seashells."


"why seashells?"


"Why not? Also, since you've been so kind, and are overall interesting, I'm gonna give you two things for free, and one time only. First, a lovely little trinket." He opens his suitcase and puts his hand inside it, he pulls out a necklace, it has a simple metal chain, and a two inch wide golden disc with the King in Yellow's symbol on it, I immediately slip it around my neck.

Sigil of Hastur[Equipped]

Click to shrink...

"Thanks, and what's the second thing?" I ask him, looking up from the Sigil.


"You should probably hold onto something firm." With that he vanishes, he's there one moment, and without me blinking, gone in the next.


"Hold onto something firm?-" I hear a screech as suddenly the train twists off the track, I feel myself lose my footing before I feel a sharp pain on my head, and everything goes to black.

 

[TheEmpOfMankind]

Ambassador of Carcosa

Chapter: A Looming Specter.


??? POV


A door opens, revealing a dull green cloaked figure sitting at a lamplit desk, his cloak is decorated in dull yellow symbols and twisting shapes. He calmly writes in a notebook, occasionally dipping his feathered pen into an ink well. "Did the sacrifices arrive?" He asks the person who entered his room.


"Yes sir, and my… payment?" A dull brown cloaked figure walks into the soft light.


"Your taste for greed will be sated, mongrel." The green cloaked man said, continuing his writing as if he wasn't bothered by the "mongrels" presence.


"Hey, just be glad this'll give you their favor for at least four or five years." The brown cloaked figure shrugged, not caring about the insult.


"All in exchange for your permanent exile." One can almost hear the seething disappointment in the green cloak's voice.


"You know I have little to no stake here, I'm no descendant, no relation to any of the ones from below, and no one, including you, really cared for me in this old town." The brown cloaked figure turns and looks out a grimy window, similar yet less extravagantly cloaked figures patrol the streets, preparing for a ritual.


"You could still reconsider your place amongst us. You can still-"


"I've made my decision." The brown cloaked figure interrupts. "That is final. Once I get what I desire, I'll leave and I'll never look back. You'll never have to see me again and I'm pretty sure we're both fine with that."


"So be it. The ritual-"


"Starts at the stroke of midnight, which is in four hours. I can wait." Once more the brown cloaked figure interrupts again


"So be it, Iä."


"Iä."


Benjamin POV


Consciousness came slowly to me, a searing pain screams in my head as red coats my left eye's vision. My good eye darts around as I shakily begin standing up, I then wince at the white hot pain that makes itself known through a long gash on my torso, which openly bleeds. Quickly I press my cloak against my side, my cloak's fabric slowly turns red where I'm pressing the cloak into my side.


I bite back a curse as I begin walking among the flipped train, and I see fire eating at the wood on some parts of the train cars. Thousands of pieces of metal and wood litter the marshy landscape. Many of the train cars are intact thankfully, but just as many became bent and twisted, and partially sunk into the soft soil of the marshland.


I spend a few minutes walking before my vision blurs again, a loud ringing screams within my head as my legs momentarily cease their functions. I fall forwards, my hands sinking deep into the marsh's mud. Darkness begins filling my vision as the sound of squishing footsteps nears me.

----Ambassador----​

Vision slowly returns to me, and my mind throbs in agony. I clench my eyes shut and slowly push myself forwards. "Up up up, not yet sir, gotta let your wound coagulate a little bit, and I also gotta find a makeshift patch to keep you from bleeding more in case you accidentally tear your stitches." My vision clears up, allowing me to see the man working on sealing up my wounds.


"Thanks sir." I tell him, gritting my teeth at my mind's throbbing pain.


"No need to call me sir, I'm not in the military anymore, call me Simon." The mam, Simon, looks to be in his late fifties, he still has a full head of hair, albeit graying about halfway up his hair length. His once neat suit is ripped and torn at places, and makeshift bandages cross across his arms.


"Thank you, Simon." My eyes wander across the wreckage, seeing survivors, both largely intact and not. "What happened?"


"According to Dimitri, the train's engineer, one of the wheels of the train broke off with enough force that the train flipped over. The conductor, Samuel, furiously insisted that just because the wheel is loose doesn't mean anything bad will happen, which, well…" Simon gestures around to the many wounded and the wreckage, "was obviously not the case."


"Indeed." I slowly push myself to my feet.


"Up up up, sit down kid-"


"Benjamin."


"Kid." He ignores my annoyed glare, "just because you have red eyes and sharp teeth doesn't mean you need to act tough-"


"Why are you saying that so casually?"


"Kid -" "I'm nineteen." "-I know you're a vampire."


"Dhampir." I immediately corrected him, "I'm only half vampire- wait, at am I correcting you, how the fuck do you come to that conclusion -"


"Kid, I've fought in Europe in the Great War, saw some shit that'd make your skin crawl thinking about it. I've fought with vampires and I fought against vampires in that time, and since you only have half of their might l, sit down and heal-"


"I want to help." I interrupt his tirade, "hell, if it's just to carry light shit around, I don't care. It's better than sitting on my ass all night."


He scoffs, saying something about youngsters and their over eagerness to prove themselves under his breath before waving me over to help him out. He then pauses, and pulls out a pair of thick lensed and rimmed sunglasses, "put these on, and do your best to not smile, don't want anyone questioning you about your massive canines." I shrug in response and slip on the sunglasses, I then begin to carry ripped up sacks and fabrics to be used as makeshift bandages, helping every now and then to get some wounds dressed.


Things are… poor to say the least. By the time we got most people stabilized, me and Simon realized a very, very bad fact. We are out of medical supplies, and most of the things we used are meant to be temporary solutions to various long term problems. Such as broken bones or shit that requires surgery. Without that, many of these people are going to either die or be crippled the rest of their lives.


"We need to get help." Simon tells Dimitri as he approaches him. Dimitri is a dark haired man, faint wrinkles around the mouth and eyes, faint age spots dot across his cheeks, and his eyes are a dark hazel color.


"Do you think I don't know that?" Dimitri says tiredly, I can hear a very faint Russian accent in his voice as he speaks, "For God's sake Simon we don't even know where we are thanks to the maps being missing, Samuel's either dead or missing, we have no means of even getting to where we need to go-"


"Legs." I glanced towards the Boston accented teen that just got done helping people, "we can walk to where we need to go."


"Do you know of anywhere we can go?" I asked him, genuinely curious.


"Yeah yah sap, if any of you thought to look on the other side of the rattler you woulda seen a town that's a handful a miles away, easily within walking distance." He shrugs.


"I severely doubt we have time for that kid -"


"Jake." The now named Jake interrupts Simon, "My name is Jake old man." He ignores Simon's sputtering, "These folks need help, we'll get 'em' some help. We just gotta run like Satan himself is chasing us.*


"Jake," Dimitri starts, "You aren't gonna go alone."


"You're gonna come with me?"


"Yeah, if Samuel is still alive, I want answers from him, and he'd probably go to the nearest town to find a way to escape any authorities we send after him."


"I'll go as well." I tell them, I raise my hand to stop Simon from starting a tirade, "I won't sit on my ass all day waiting for a miracle. If you want, you can come with us."


"But the people-"


"Will be fine old man," Jake says, confident, "What's the worst that could happen?"

 

[TheEmpOfMankind]

Ambassador of Carcosa
Waking Waves

??? POV


"Are the trucks ready Brother?" A female figure in a green cloak asks her apparent sibling.


"Indeed dear Sister, we're preparing the trucks for transport of the sacrifices. Head Priest Barnabas assures us that these sacrifices will sate our masters for close to the next four or five years."


"Are the sacrifices we make not enough for them dear Brother?" She asks, a few locks of red hair sway out from her hood as she tilts her head, her hair is thick with muck, its wetness shined in the moonlight.


"They are, dear Sister, but the reason we are gaining so many sacrifices is because of the one who is being exiled from our community."


"Who?"


"Brother Samuel." He responds.


"Why am I not surprised? He was always an outsider despite being born within our community. Is he that desperate for escape?"


"Head Priest Barnabas is also giving him some of the treasures to further incentivize him to never return." He places a calming hand on her shoulder.


"It will be worth it though, all of those innocent people?" She asks, her voice suddenly shaky.


"It has to be." He tells her calmly, "If not -"


"Richard! Get in the truck, we gotta head out now!" Someone interrupts the now named Richard, honking their horn while doing so.


"I am on my way Brother Jason-" he starts, but is quickly interrupted once again.


"Then get on with it!" The now named Jason yelled heatedly.


Benjamin POV


Me, Simon's, Jake's, and Dimitri's feet tap against the ice coated asphalt as we walk. It was jarring, jarring how quickly we transitioned from walking on part frozen part wet marshland, to walking upon the half finished roads of this unknown town. Dilapidated buildings, small boats seemingly stopped in mid transport, assumedly to the docks, and various equipment meant for fishing are spread out across the town as we walk through the streets. The smell of winter and dead fish hang heavy in the cold air.


Had we not heard the distant sounds of a series of motors from vehicles we likely would have assumed this town was an abandoned fishing ghost town. "Feels…" I start speaking before Jake interrupts me.


"Eerie as hell?"


"I don't blame you." Dimitri states, clearly feeling the same way about this town as me and Jake do, yet Simon seems to be neutral about this place. Considering his past with vampires in Europe, I'm not surprised about that though. He's probably been in many creepier places than this, like a crypt or the middle of a mud-filled trench.


"Well there are at least a few people here considering the sound of engines." I say as I shrug, and we swiftly pick up the pace. The sounds of engines slowly fade away, signaling that we either are too far away to hear them, or they're the ones who moved far away from us.


We continue walking past the dilapidated buildings, until we see someone dressed curiously, they wear a full green cloak, similar to my yellow one, and it's covered in muck. They turn towards us, revealing their face to us in the pale moonlight. I could tell the person was female due to her long eyelashes and long, red and muck sheened hair, but the rest of her felt wrong and eerily familiar in description. A flat and narrow head, a flat nose, and eyes that bulge as she blankly stared at us like a fish would. Then she spoke, her voice soft yet croaked. "Welcome, intruders," she says to us, her face devoid of emotion, "You are from the train, are you not?"


I slowly feel a pit of pure dread fill my stomach as I slowly piece together where we are. "Yes, we are." My voice is shaky as I speak, "Tell us, where are we at the moment?"


She smiles, yet it doesn't reach her eyes, "You are in Innsmouth intruder in yellow. You and your cohorts will not live to attempt a "rescue" of the sacrifices."


"What the fuck do you mean-" Jake suddenly shuts up as three other footsteps approached us. We're surrounded by four cultists, the lady and her fellows reach into their robes, and pull out ornate daggers made from bone, each dagger as either fish iconography or tentacles on the hilts.


They all sprint towards us, intending on gutting us like fish with their daggers. I didn't pay attention to my cohorts as the redhead lunged at me, immediately I used Vampires Bite, I sprung forwards like an arrow loosened from its drawstring, my teeth glowed red as my jaws snapped onto her neck. Just like last time, their body immediately goes limp, her daggers drop harmlessly on the road and I drop her corpse.


Swiftly I snatch up the fallen daggers and help my comrades. The next few moments are a blur, the sweet taste of the cultists blood coats my teeth as I see my CON go up by three. I glanced at my cohorts faces, Simon had an unreadable expression, while Jake and Dimitri both had varying levels of shock and disgust on their faces. I calmly removed my sunglasses, revealing to them my red slitted eyes.


"Let me reintroduce myself to you," the sunglasses vanish into my inventory, "my name is Benjamin Diov, Dhampir." I do a somewhat dramatic bow as I finish licking the blood from my lips and teeth, "the one and only person on this earth that can tell you what the fuck is wrong with this town, and probably the only one who can help you leave this place, alive." I say to them, returning to a straight stand.


How unfortunate that, right after my dramatic flourish, Jake and Dimitri began hurling on the asphalt. I can't help but wince at the sight, while Simon seemed almost amused by the sight of it. "Amateurs." He mutters and begins walking towards me. "Tell me Benjamin, what the fuck is going on here and how the fuck do you know about it?"


"The former is easier to explain than the latter, and I suggest waiting for our friends to stop hurling on the ground for an explanation, while we begin moving." The faint sound of the returning engines reaches our ears, signaling the townsfolk's return, "because soon it might be too late."

----ambassador----​

The sounds of our rushed footsteps echo throughout the streets as we run. "That is fucking disgusting." Jake notes as we run, "human sacrifice, underwater monsters, sex with said monsters."


"Sounds like something from some horror novel." Dimitri agreed as we duck into an alleyway, a few moments later, dozens of trucks zoom by us, the sounds of the train passengers' panicked cries echoing alongside the roar of truck engines.


"We need to help them." Simon says suddenly after minutes of him being silent, "If what you said is true, nobody deserves what they're going through, or what will happen." He looks at me, "can we kill the Deep Ones?"


"Unlikely. We only have bone weapons," ignoring the pocket knife Robert gave to me, "and they're described as 'immortal,' so no. There's no hope in killing them."


"What about saving the people? Are we able to-" Dimitri begins to ask before being interrupted by Jake.


"I say we fuck off to find some help-"


"With what fucking transport?" Simon snaps, "it's not like we can commandeer their vehicles now can we?"


"Listen here old man-"


"I'll show you how old of a man I am you fucking punk-"


"Quit it!" "Stop!" Both me and Dimitri interrupt Jake and Simon before they can begin their little spat.


"Alright, here's the plan, so listen up, the both of you." I snarled, baring my fangs. "Once we find out where the passengers are being kept, Jake can steal one of their cars and drive to the nearest town to get help, we'll try and get as many people out of the town as we can while he does that. Simple, right?"


Simon scoffs, "No plan-"


"Survives contact with the enemy, yadda yadda, yadda." I wave my hand, "we'll just have to figure it out as we go, saving only a handful of people is still better than saving none at all." I sigh, "Now, let's follow those trucks and see where they're going, before they become fishmen chow."

 

[TheEmpOfMankind]

Ambassador of Carcosa

Chapter: Town Meeting!


Jake POV


"Damn them, damn them all." I muttered to myself as I stumbled in a blind dash to the last truck in the row of them, desperately trying to ignore the screams of fear and agony coming from behind me. How could people be so cruel to other people? How could they murder them for something selfish? They can leave anytime they want, that was acknowledged.


Why? Do they just not care? Are they just that greedy? Or just that insane?


I suddenly hear rapid footsteps, brandishing my stolen bone dagger, and I rammed it into the gut of the cultist. Their body slammed into mine, their own dagger dropping harmlessly on the street of this accursed town. I could hear them gasp as the wind pushed out of their lungs. I begin rapidly thrusting the bone knives into their gut, their screams of pain mix with my roar of pure rage as I repeatedly plunge the blade into their gut. Pushing them against a truck's door.


They then rained their blows down on me, their fists slam against my face, my shoulders, my back, and at first it hurt. But as the seconds dragged on their strikes slowed, and their screams of pain slumped into gurgles as their blood, and other bodily fluids, swell up their throat. I left the knife in their gut as the life in their eyes rapidly faded into dull sheen. I tossed the blade aside, and shoved their corpse off to the side.


I pull the truck door open, and am glad that not only was it unlocked, but it also has the keys in the ignition. I quickly turn on the car and put it into reverse, spinning it around and pulling it into drive. Immediately I slammed my foot down on the accelerator and floored it. Driving the vehicle at around 40 miles per hour and increasing.


I will find help, I will escape. I will!-


Something runs out in front of the truck and-


*Crash!*


Fifteen minutes beforehand…

Benjamin POV


We all carefully stalk the streets of Innsmouth, the sounds of our footsteps are loud in our ears as we walk. Our destination is just within our reach, I could feel my urge to run in there and to help the train passengers flee, but stealth is key. We all stealthily enter the ancient looking boat warehouse, the creak of the door drowned out by the fearful shouts of the train passengers, and the loud chanting of the cultists.


The language, at least to my ears, is somewhat familiar. "Iä! Iä Ȼⱦħᵾłᵾ!" The cultists repeat, the name of the god they worship buzzed in my ears like an angry wasp. I can't help but feel pity towards the fools, worshiping an entity who sees them as nothing but ants, unimportant and not worth looking at, or even acknowledging.


I turn towards my fellows, "Jake, once we start making some noise, head to the trucks. Simon, Dimitri, you two will head up with me onto the catwalks, we're gonna drop that boat-" I quickly point my finger towards a boat near the overhead catwalk, "onto that chucklefuck." I then pointed towards the man on an altar, his dull green garb was heavily decorated with dull yellow symbols and twisting, tentacle-like shapes. The altar itself looks similar to that of a typical church altar, except tattered and a dull green, embroidered by gems and seashells, which I will shamelessly steal afterwards. "Got it?"


"Wait for some noise, get to the trucks, I got it."


"Da."


"I'll watch your back, kid."


We silently walk up the old steps, their soft creaks drowned out by the chants below, the buzzing in my ears is annoying, but I can handle it. I look down, seeing the train passengers in areas where boats would be pushed out of, the ground has about a foot or two of water, every now and then someone would get the stones to pull themselves out of the, no doubt intended sacrifice zones, only to be savagely kicked in the head by the cultists. There are poorly constructed "dams" blocking the sea water from getting to the train passengers, and water slowly leaks from the cracks in the wood. I grit my teeth in anger, but push on, slowly walking upon the catwalk above them.


Soon we arrive at the hanging boat, and Simon begins using his bone knife to cut it, just as the cult leader raises his hands to silence the cultists, the train passengers whimper and ask what they want, which goes unanswered as the cult leader begins his speech. "Brothers and Sisters of our beloved town. We have gathered here tonight to celebrate a momentous occasion, a massive group of people to be sacrificed to-"


The train passengers scream in fear and outrage. I glance out the window to the waves of the sea, and can see shapes in the waves. Fearfully I whisper in Dimitri's ear, "Help Simon cut the boat free-"


"Silence!" The cult leader's voice boomed out over the screams of the train passengers, who quickly became silent. "Now, as I was saying. We have gathered here to celebrate a momentous occasion, for a Brother who is soon to leave our town brought enough people to compensate for our loss of him, for these sacrifices will last us for a demi-decade!"


"Iä! Iä!"


"Please, let us give thanks to our soon to be departed Brother," he makes a grand gesture towards a doorway, and a brown cloaked figure walks in, "let us give thanks to our dear Brother, Samuel!"


I could almost feel the shock radiating from Dimitri as the name was spoken, "Samuel?" He stops helping Simon and looks over towards the brown cloaked figure, just as they pulled down their hood. Their conductor's cap stood proudly on a head of brown hair, their middle aged face had a small scar under the cheekbone, their eyes quickly glanced to the altar in barely concealed greed in his eyes. "Samuel…" I could hear Dimitri begin to growl in barely held back rage as the cult leader resumes his speech.


"Our dear Brother Samuel will be given a portion of the rewards our emissaries of Ȼⱦħᵾłᵾ will bring once they have taken our sacrifices." I could hear the waves slap against the poorly constructed dams, and a loud rumbling coming from the water.


Suddenly, Dimitri runs to the edge of the catwalk, and in a blind rage at the discovery of Samuel's motives, he roars, "Samuel! Ты гребаный жадный ублюдок!"("You fucking greedy bastard!")


They all look up, Samuel looks shocked and the cultists become enraged. "Dimitri, you idiot!" Shouts Simon as the rope holding the boat begins to give.


"Seize them!-" the cult leader shouts as the boat's rope snaps, dropping the boat on top of him as all hell breaks loose. Cultists run up the stairs trying to get to us, and the people desperately scramble to get out of the pits they're in, some getting kicked down by the cultists. Something begins scratching at the wood of the dams as we prepare for.


Miraculously, for the cult leader, he shouts out, "Open the dams! Let none of the sacrifices or interlopers escape!"

----ambassador----​

Dimitri POV


As soon as the cult leader said what he said, I lunged towards Samuel from the catwalk, slamming into the ублюдок(fucker) with enough force to push him onto the ground. "You greedy, selfish bastard! Я надеюсь, ты сгниешь в аду за это!(I hope you rot in hell for this!)"


"You don't know Dimitri, you don't know what they-"


"I know well enough you cunt!" I slammed my fist into his face, "you were on that train for years with me Samuel! You could have left here and stayed gone!" I slam his face again with my fist, "Yet!" And again. "You!" And again. "Didn't!" And again.


I slammed my fist into his face repeatedly, I could feel my knuckles split and his bone and cartilage break as I repeatedly swung. I swung my fist for what felt like hours before stopping, looking at the pitiful, horrific mess of a man. He repeatedly whispered desperate pleas for me to stop, and repeated apologies. I got up off of him, and looked at him blankly. This isn't Samuel, this isn't my friend. This isn't anyone at all.


I roll him towards the pit of train passengers as he begs for me to reconsider, and thus, I give him the last words I'll ever speak to him. "May God forgive you for your sins my friend. прощание, Samuel."


"N-No! D-Dimitri wait-" it's too late as I roll him into the group of train passengers, his screams muffled as they beat him. I looked away, and began helping as many people I can while defending myself from the cultists.


"T-thank you!" One says as I pull them out. I then chanced a glance towards my friends. Simon, despite his old age, puts up a wonderful fight against the cultists. Slamming his bone daggers into them and flinging them off the catwalk from time to time. Benjamin jumps off the catwalk, sinking his teeth into a cultists cloaked neck briefly before dashing towards the ruined altar, his hand touching the surface for a brief second before the decorative embroidered fabric vanishes, causing even more outrage amongst the cultists as he dashes towards one, stabbing them over and over with no skill and tact.


I don't even have time to register the sound of a truck engine, likely from Jake, before the shoddily made dams break apart as loud, hellish howls echo out from the water.

 

[TheEmpOfMankind]

Ambassador of Carcosa

Thalassophobia


Benjamin POV


The sound of the dam's breaking was like a gunshot, wood and splinters burst forth like buckshot, slamming into train passengers and cultists alike. The train passengers screaming took on a new pitch as they began scrambling to get out of the ice cold water. I can feel myself freeze as multiple creatures made themselves known to us as some crawled onto the dock of the warehouse.


The creatures, the Deep Ones, were all different but shared characteristics that labeled them as such. Scaled bodies that glisten horrifically in the moonlight, long gangly limbs that ended with webbed claws. Their heads seemed to vary, some having necks while others seem to just be connected to their shoulders. Their dead, emotionless eyes were betrayed by their wide, grinning maws of serrated teeth. I could hear them croak, groan, and howl as the horror show properly began


I can't move, it's as if my body is covered in a thick layer of concrete as I watch the train passengers who couldn't escape get ripped apart by the Deep Ones. Blood, bone, flesh, and organs flung about as they entered a freezing frenzy, not unlike a shark's. I can hear the cultists' cheers and jeers mix with the screams and rushing water. I want to run, to fight, to do something.


One of the Deep Ones approaches me, mocking me with its trill. That's when the feeling of shock faded, it became replaced by a frothing, boiling, rage. In an instant, I equipped Robert's Switchblade into my right hand and I swung with all my might at the Deep One. Time seemingly slowed as I thought the blade would do something, anything to this monster in front of me. To this thing that took joy in ending innocent lives. But the knife did nothing, well, that's a lie. It did do something when it struck the Deep One.


The knife rippled as if it were water, its solid form somehow retaining its property of being a solid, due to the hilt doing the same thing, yet at the same time shattering like fragile glass. Just as quick as the anger came, it left. Quickly becoming replaced by fear, and hopelessness as I slowly looked at the Deep One's disgusting face. It let out what I can only describe as a chuckle at my futile action, before it swung its claws at me. While one claw slashed across my chest, the other slashed at the left side of my face.


You couldn't help them.


I felt myself go flying as pain blossomed from where it clawed me. Then new pain formed as I slammed into a crate, bones snapped like twigs and the wood painfully stabbed into me. My vision blurred from the pain and blood, and my ears rang like bells from the impact. I could barely make out the sounds of the screaming, and the shapes of the Deep Ones and train passengers alike.


You couldn't help them.


I use my arms, despite the pain in my right arm, and the fact that the splintered wood dug into my palms as I forced myself onto my knees. My blood mixed with the salty water and blood from the train passengers as the ringing continued, slowly lowering in pitch. I see the shadow of the Deep One who hit me fall over me like a shroud. This was how it ended. My death at the hands of a fish man. I slowly looked up at it, its disgusting tongue licking its teeth as it prepared to kill me.


You couldn't help them.


The ringing in my ears lowered even further, allowing me to just barely hear again. And as my vision slowly returns, I can hear the familiar voice of Simon yell, no, beg me to do something. "Run! Get away! Run you vampiric fool!"


You couldn't help them.


It's the only thing I can do. Run. So I did. With renewed strength I rolled away from the Deep One, gaining a gash from its claw on my side, and pushed myself up unto my feet, despite my left leg's protest, and quickly began to run. My left leg screamed in pain, no doubt from being broken and having to be used to running, as I ran as fast as I humanly could.


You couldn't help them.


I ran, and ran, and ran. Barley registering what is happening around me. The train passengers being attacked by cultists and Deep Ones alike. The ruined truck that Jake no doubt tried using to escape and get help, where a Deep One feasts on his remains. The crying and begging of help from those who are no doubt being killed as I run away. Away from the Deep Ones, away from the cultists, away from the train passengers.


You couldn't help them.


I ran. I ran until my leg screamed. I ran till I could only think of running. I ran till I could not feel the asphalt anymore. I ran across the partially frozen marsh. I ran, and I kept running till I collapsed onto the cold, wet ground, somehow running to where the train fell over.


You couldn't help them.


I laid on the cold ground for a long time, breathing heavily as tears fell from my damaged and undamaged eye. My cloak covered me like a blanket as I laid there, silently crying as I could only think about the train passengers that I failed. I ignored the footsteps that approached me, and I ignored them when they stopped.


You couldn't help them.


"Oh Ambassador of my Lord's enemy." The voice began, I recognize it belonging to the cult leader, "Thy rescue attempt was poor yet valiant. Know that it is only my pity and understanding that keeps me from dragging you back to Innsmouth to be sacrificed to my Lord." His feet shift on the marshy ground, "So I shall give you this warning once, and only once. Leave thy lord's work, and leave these outskirts of my town. Leave and live thy life away from here, but should thee return… Thee shall be sacrificed to my Lord. Once thy can stand, go, go and never look back."


You couldn't save them.


At that, he finally leaves me alone. Cold, tired, hurt, and injured. Alone with only my thoughts to accompany me.

Level Up! +1


You have learned, Masquerade.

Click to shrink...

You couldn't save them.