But never mind that I am hoping some talented writer will write a omake about Avernus Balrogs living in the caverns if they can.
...
@Addio I HAVE A COMMISSION!
...
@Addio I have comedy commissions!
-Snippets of love letters and marriage proposals that endlessly bombard Frederick's inbox. Syr commentates on the interesting ones.
-Vanaheim's esteemed
Vanity media conglomerate (parent company of
Vanity magazine) does a multi-episodic documentary on Avernite lifestyles. Endless horror and duty is criss-crossed with shots of hot Avernites in (and out of) uniform and commentaries thereof. Bonus if it fits with the current climate of Vanaheim-Avernus relations.
...okay.
~~~
Hot and Heavy Heart-Pounding Action
~~~
[In space, a pict of Avernus in all her glory. An orb of green and yellow and blue, over a dark, starless black.]
V.O.: Avernus. The most dangerous planet in the galaxy. Hurtling through space at twenty-five kilometres a second, this world is home to the deadliest creatures known to man.
Last year, we sent our best crewmen and crewwomen to this planet. They survived, and lived to tell the tale which you will now see in VNN's seven-part-series…
The Gazed Abyss.
~~~
[CUT TO: The planetary governor's office. Esteemed personage, FREDERICK ROTBART, is doing some paperwork.]
INTERVIEWER: Can I just say, on behalf of Vanity Corp, we are so glad to have you speak with us?
FREDERICK ROTBART: Not at all. The honour is mine, to be graced with your presence.
[He smiles. It is beautiful. The interviewer laughs awkwardly, and coughs.]
INT: Um, so! Can you walk us through your normal day?
FR: Certainly. Usually I wake up at five, if no spiders came in during the night to interrupt. This high up, they don't like the altitude, but there's always
one, you know.
INT: And then?
FR: Breakfast. I keep meaning to go on a strength-diet, but those hash browns are simply too scrumptious. One or two, which I chew on as I go through the morning missives. Around this time, the letter service comes through, so I spend about fifteen minutes replying to all the love letters—
INT: I'm sorry, love letters?
FR: Yes.
[He taps the desk with his hand in thought.] Would you like to see?
~~~
V.O.: Our crew managed to join a cave survey. Even more than a hundred years after colonization, many of the caverns beneath the capital Spine are unmapped. Entire ecosystems have gone uncatalogued, the stone chambers and chasms shifting each year to disgorge entirely new species of horror. Nevertheless, regular patrols are sent in to reestablish early warning systems and autonomous defense units.
[CUT TO: Cavern entrance Aleph-6, the dripping black stone blocked off by a thick bulkhead. To the side, a databoard displays the status of the remote sensors and turrets, all of which are in critical condition. Serg. NICHOLAS AUREGARDE is present, explaining the dangers of the caverns to the team manager, SYLVIA GRENZE.]
NICHOLAS AUREGARDE: …Stay inside the group at all times. If we tell you to run, you run. If one of us disappears, keep going. If they come back fine, shoot them. Do you understand?
SYLVIA GRENZE: Of course. None of us wish to die down here.
[The sergeant looks at her with deep pity.]
NA: Suit up.
~~~
[The governor's office. The Governor himself has a pile of letters on his desk, reading each one out loud.]
FR: "… and like the stars themselves, our love will outlast us. Love, your secret admirer." Well, thank you, secret admirer.
[He tosses it into the pile on the floor, and opens the next one.]
FR: Oh, this one came with a picture. Goodness, shouldn't that just snap off? "Dear Fred, long has it been since my last missive, and yet my fondness for you grows ever deeper—" Oh, lord, it's the pineapple girl.
[He pulls out official government stationery, and begins to pen a letter.]
INT: Are you replying?
FR: Of course. It's only polite.
~~~
[In the caverns, unlit save for a trail of weak chemical skim-lights. The camera moves with the bulky motion of power armour.]
NA: First turret.
[Suddenly, the group stops, fanning out as the sergeant investigates the first turret. It appears melted, spikes of raw adamantite melted back from the casing, as if blown sideways in a wind.]
NA: Completely wrecked. We'll take it back; recycle it into the next batch.
[He keys his radio.] Luis, if you don't shut up, I'll make you.
LUIS SAGUERRA: Sarge, I'm right here.
[NICHOLAS looks up to the waving soldier. He listens, and frowns deeply.]
SG: What's wrong?
NA: He's still talking.
SG: Then who is it?
NA: No, it's definitely his voice. "Testing, testing, is anyone hearing this?"
SG: What does that mean?
[NICHOLAS is silent. In a swift motion, he loads up his impaler.]
NA: Keep moving.
[In one swoop, all the lights vanish.]
~~~
V.O.: Syr Rotbart is the Governor's only child. But she hasn't let that stop her from a career in Avernus' military command under a pseudonymous identity.
[CUT TO: SYR ROTBART, speaking to the interviewer.]
SYR ROTBART: Everyone loves dad. Only, some of them really love him. Like,
really love him. When I was still trooping, I used mom's name, and nobody ever found out. Like, seriously, you ever spend three hours in your bunk listening to your roommates talk about their darkest fantasies about what they want your dad to do to them? And then ask you about your fantasies about the "greatest governor ever"?
[She shivers.]
SR:
[mockingly] "He's not my type!" "But he's everyone's type!" "Well, he's not mine." Anyway, they all thought I had a girlfriend in Lindon. Not actually that bad, though. Way less maintenance, and I could order all the flowers and doughnuts for myself that I liked.
~~~
V.O.: When the blackout hit, the sergeant ordered an immediate retreat. But to their dismay, they found the path had changed behind them.
[The caverns. There is no light but the helm-torches. An occasional whimper is heard.]
SUPERIMPOSE: THREE DAYS LATER
[The crew is sitting within a square plot, lit by lanterns. NICHOLAS is examining the floor, brushing away loose gravel to reveal deeply etched markings.]
V.O.: The Avernites utilize a complex language of codes and symbols for communication between expeditions, or to warn future explorers of the dangers within.
NA:
[reading the field code] "Lost. Shifting paths. Shifting… time. Communications… compromised. Stone is… water? Humanoid entity, large, hostile, fire. No,
hostile fire.
SG: Hostile fire?
NA: The fire itself is hostile.
[Off-camera, LUIS SAGUERRA attempts to contact base camp.]
LS: Hello? Anybody? Testing, testing, is anyone hearing this?
[At this, NICHOLAS looks up. The look on his face is one of perplexed horror.]
~~~
V.O.: As part of diplomatic efforts, the Avernite government has begun several trust-building exercises between their citizens and the Quartok Protectorate.
[An indoor artificial beach. A small net has been strung between two poles. All Avernites have dressed in scant swimwear, gently bouncing several white volleyballs over the net.
[CUT TO: The Quartok contingent. Though the xenos lack human expression, they have been staring for several minutes.
CUT TO: the humans. One human waves at the Quartok.]
[NAME REDACTED]: What's wrong? Can't handle this?
[CUT TO: A furious game of multiball between Quartok and human. The Quartok, having a height advantage, hammer the balls with their larger upper-body mass as the humans deflect with reverse-jump kicks and complex acrobatics.]
~~~
[The caverns, 2230 hours. NICHOLAS AUREGARDE is seen sitting down, keying his radio on and off. Each time he turns it on, the sound of agonizing screams can be heard.]
SG: Nicholas?
[He continues to listen. After several minutes, it is determined that one of the voices is his own.]
~~~
[SYR ROTBART reclines in her sofa.]
SR: Do you know how many love letters he gets every day? Like, a hundred. Do you know how many love letters I get? None! I got, like, one Saint's letter when I was twelve, and that was because I bribed Matt with a box of cookies.
[CUT TO: the desk of the Governor. FREDERICK ROTBART picks up a pink letter, narrows his eyes, and hands it to his personal guard.]
FR: Find them.
~~~
[The caverns. Three days later, having triangulated a functioning source, the team is moving back to camp. There is a rumble, and all units pause, then move faster.]
NA: Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck—
[There is a shudder that shakes the earth. From behind, a far off light begins to shine, like the glow of iron. The camera turns, and in the distance, two pinpricks of red heat emerge from the shadows.]
NA: Retreating fire!
[A third hole opens, jagged with teeth. It roars, and the stone melts as the wave of sound passes above. When the shockwave hits the team, they are blown forward, tumbling wildly in the seething, molten wind.
[From several cleaned frames, the creature is seen between moments. A foggy man-beast, half composed of smoke lit from within by a blinding fire, standing three men tall. In one moment, a long, trailing line of light appears from one appendage, the earth sizzling where it touches.
NA: Not fucking dying not fucking dying fire in the hole!
[The sergeant tosses a krak grenade. The creature snaps its whip, bisecting it neatly and igniting the payload. An explosion destabilizes the tunnel, rocks falling to crush the creature.]
SG: Is it dead?
NA: No! What the hell is wrong with you?
[The team runs, until from the darkness is revealed a bulkhead. NICHOLAS slams the door, inputting the access code. It is declined.
[Behind them, the stones begin to run like water.]
NA: Open the fucking door you toaster fucks! Open the goddamn--
[The bulkhead slides apart, several Skitarii arrayed behind it. NICHOLAS ushers the team through, physically dragging SYLVIA as they take aim. The stones burst apart, the horned head of flame and darkness cutting through.
SKITARII:
Stand aside.
[The Skitarii level several Neutron Guns, streams of anti-light impacting the beast. It roars one last time, then vanishes as the bulkhead reseals. Heavy pounding sounds are heard as the voidshield is assaulted, that eventually die down.
[A Skitarii detaches from the formation.]
SKITARII:
Sergeant Auregarde. Did you determine the cause of damage?
[NICHOLAS lets out a wet gargle.]
~~~
Nicholas Auregarde went on to survive for several more years, before falling in holy matrimony to Sylvia Grenze. They have celebrated the birth of their first child, and are trying for a second.
~~~
AN: Look, bud. Who says the inside of Avernus is the same size as the outside?
@Addio: I'm a bit confused about what exactly happened down in the caves. What happened to Luis Saguerra?
@HanEmpire Nothing happened to Luis. Nicholas knew Luis hadn't been out of his sight long enough to get bodysnatched or voicewalked or whatever, but it's still a weird omen. Then, three days later, he hears Luis saying the exact same words into the radio that he heard three days ago, somehow transmitted from the future. He then listens to his own radio, hears his own dying screams from three days into the future, and nopes the fuck out. This effect is separate from the balrog, who was only responsible for the labyrinthine twisting of the earth.
Presumably there's some weird time-curves of futures intersecting into the past, which is why Nicholas found a warning describing something that really can't be escaped, because if you can describe the balrog, you're too close. So the markings were probably also from a Nicholas that reached a bad-end.
EDIT: Or I guess if you prefer closed time loops (I don't know why, since we regularly change our plans based on straight-up divination), Nicholas escapes, then closes the loop by recording a medley of greatest hits torture screams to be broadcast back into the caves or else spacetime unravels and Avernus eats everyone. The markings are from some unlucky group that got TPK'd.
Nicholas moved to Vanaheim, by the way.
