Post by ExDeath on Dec 28, 2008 5:00:35 GMT -5
A cautionary tale. By request from boomfrog.
--
In the desolace of the black and charred wastelands of the hell plane, life blooms. The ground cracks, yielding to gnarled masses of thorny vines. "Nothing can grow in this world," you think to yourself, but the evidence is before you, a vast field of fauna that is thriving on decay. Dead willow trees dot the skyline, their branches hanging sadly, their siren's song luring you deeper into the maze..."Come in, come in."
By the time you realize that you're lost, it's too late. The sky has disappeared, replaced by all manner of withering canopies overhead. The ground beneath you seems to sink in every direction, as if you are walking into the center of a crater. Thorns cut you like razorblades with each step. Gradually, the dulled tones of brown and grey from the reposing jungle become more vibrant, until all that surrounds you is green and full of life. Still, not a sound can be heard.
You have been walking for what seems like days. Thick, impassable walls of flowered vines block your way in every direction now. "But are they flowers?" you think to yourself, " They're black." Suddenly, with an audible twisting sound, the vines reshape themselves and create a path for you. You find yourself reluctant to follow, but you are tired and hungry, covered in tiny cuts from head to toe, and you think you can make out some light ahead. Following the path for some time, you come to a clearing. A magnificent structure rises up, swallowing your view. It is dome-shaped and massive. Its walls appear to be constructed solely by the same type of vines that led you here, wound so tightly together that they have become one great pulsing lifeform. Those same flowers bloom on the green dome, too, most of them crushed and their blackened petals sent fluttering to the ground. And the smell...it is the smell of roses.
A conspicuous man dressed in black from head to toe is standing at the gates of this structure. He wasn't there before, but yet you know he's been watching you the whole time. He munches casually on an apple. Your heart races as your limbs tighten up, and you suddenly find yourself unable to move. His right hand makes some strange gestures...he opens his palm to you like a greedy beggar, then slowly waves a circle in the air, then the palm again. You try to move your mouth to ask him what is happening, but no words come out. Some wriggling of fingers, and a snap...two snaps...three, and the man finally speaks:
"Sorry for bringing you all this way, but this is as far as you go."
--
In the desolace of the black and charred wastelands of the hell plane, life blooms. The ground cracks, yielding to gnarled masses of thorny vines. "Nothing can grow in this world," you think to yourself, but the evidence is before you, a vast field of fauna that is thriving on decay. Dead willow trees dot the skyline, their branches hanging sadly, their siren's song luring you deeper into the maze..."Come in, come in."
By the time you realize that you're lost, it's too late. The sky has disappeared, replaced by all manner of withering canopies overhead. The ground beneath you seems to sink in every direction, as if you are walking into the center of a crater. Thorns cut you like razorblades with each step. Gradually, the dulled tones of brown and grey from the reposing jungle become more vibrant, until all that surrounds you is green and full of life. Still, not a sound can be heard.
You have been walking for what seems like days. Thick, impassable walls of flowered vines block your way in every direction now. "But are they flowers?" you think to yourself, " They're black." Suddenly, with an audible twisting sound, the vines reshape themselves and create a path for you. You find yourself reluctant to follow, but you are tired and hungry, covered in tiny cuts from head to toe, and you think you can make out some light ahead. Following the path for some time, you come to a clearing. A magnificent structure rises up, swallowing your view. It is dome-shaped and massive. Its walls appear to be constructed solely by the same type of vines that led you here, wound so tightly together that they have become one great pulsing lifeform. Those same flowers bloom on the green dome, too, most of them crushed and their blackened petals sent fluttering to the ground. And the smell...it is the smell of roses.
A conspicuous man dressed in black from head to toe is standing at the gates of this structure. He wasn't there before, but yet you know he's been watching you the whole time. He munches casually on an apple. Your heart races as your limbs tighten up, and you suddenly find yourself unable to move. His right hand makes some strange gestures...he opens his palm to you like a greedy beggar, then slowly waves a circle in the air, then the palm again. You try to move your mouth to ask him what is happening, but no words come out. Some wriggling of fingers, and a snap...two snaps...three, and the man finally speaks:
"Sorry for bringing you all this way, but this is as far as you go."