The Planes and Fallstaff

As Zephaniah goes deeper and deeper into the jungle. He can't help but feel he's being watched. It's dark underneath the canopies. And their are many shadows of tree leaves dancing. Than their is the occasional movement. It looks almost like some kind of large creature. But it moves slowly but stealthily like a creature stalking its prey but not of a creature that would normally do so. Zepheniah keeps walking knowing if he stops to look it'll be on him in a second. So he stumbles forward for what seems to be agonizing hours. Until finally he collapses and falls over onto something wet and squishy. He gets up and then looks at the sky. The sky is snowing. He looks around and notices that he's in some kind of arctic winter. There's an aurora borealis but it's in a unidentifiable, indescribable color. Not known to mans knowledge. He looks around he's on some kind of plateau of ice but the ice is strange almost as if it's more like metal and the color is as well. But as he looks down he sees there are no landmarks but what can only be described of as an army. They are carrying torches and have surrounded the plateau. There faces indescribable as the winds make it hard to tell. Many of them are chanting in some language that filled Zephaniah with dread. Many of them carrying banners but of what. To what. The drum beats of a primitive drums can be heard. That of only man was never meant to see. The people is what he assumed they were, were now silent. They were looking up at something but not him. This when he hears the whisper up above him telling what appears to be nonsense and insane gibberish. And as Zephaniah looks up,as well he sees what can only be described as the embodiment of maddened terror. Surrounded and flocked by horrid notions flying about this grotesque god. Their flapping their insect like wings and cawing like savage ravens. For their was no other word to describe it. But pure madness. It reaches out its hand to Zepheniah. And from it's great horn speaks.

"Kthuz Nithawn I have been waiting this day for my champion to come",says this creature.

"What Champion why am I here"

Silence

"Ok what does a champion do"

Silence

At which the giant creatures hand closes around Zephaniah and Zephaniah knew no more.

Zephaniah opens his eyes. And exhales heavily as if he woke up from a nightmare. He's right on the beach again. But the surroundings are different. Instead of normal jungle foliage he sees plants never seen on earth. And they move as if their alive and writhing their branches and leaves looking almost like arms in the shadowy silhouettes.The sun is shining purple. The sky is green. The ocean water is blood red. And the beach sand is blue. And on the blue sand were people with giant masks. Masks to hideous to describe as it provokes madness and would even pause thought itself. They drag Zephaniah away with their impossibly strong wiry limbs. They take him to a ruined field laden of rusty scrap metal of indeterminable origin in which even the pieces of metal itself defies symmetry. They give him what appears to be tools.

"Are these torture tools?

Silence.

At this point, Zephaniah has lost his last bit of sanity, integrity and patience.

And at which point he laughs at the sky. The flying monsters, the mad god, the landscape, the people with giant masks.The alien equipment was far to much for it stretched his imagination to that he had insight of what they were designed for. The dark god whispering in his ear, he now knew of his destiny. To build for a god, to have ultimate power, to wipe out all suffering. All cares and worries gone. This is when he transcends and leaves his body and mind behind into the realm of fate spun myth and dream. A final word is said:Shantak. Zephaniah knee not what it meant.

Zephaniah opens his eyes for the final time. He is on the snowy plateau and sees a creature it's six legs and white fur a horn on its head and in its eyes a gleam if human. It's ursine and simian qualities stops at that. It stands up on its 2 legs.And with it's four arms beats it's chest. It looks at Zephaniah and charges. What a beautiful creature thought the demented Zephaniah. It's a pity he had to kill it. The Elder must be served. And with it the Old Gods. Grimly with the torture tool he was given he plunges the sharp end right through the monster's eye and right out of the skull. It yells and screams in pain, flailing in rage until it swipes at Zephaniah blindly.

Zephaniah opens his eyes again. And he is standing on what appears to be the coast. Their are the green skies of the Realm of Dreams. But also he notices a sort of rip in the fabric of reality it led to a place of winter and cold. Sensing what may be on the other side he inches toward it. Seemingly abandoning all sense of preservation.

He puts a finger through the rip. His finger seems to go through to it on the other side not like a painting but sort of like an open window. A robed human is in view and looks straight at him. It's clad in weird tattoos of eyes and bone and skin to make that of creatures. It says in a low voice

"Shantak"

The word echoes as more voices chime in, saying the vile epithet.

Looking at the human and it's eye tattoos it looks more disturbing than ever. Even it's robes though short looked as if they are writhing like a carpet of bugs or even like a squids tentacle.

Zephaniah looks closer at the surroundings it looks like winter but it's a hallway, it's the inside of a building! It's covered in alien architecture. Skulls of creatures he knows nothing about are sculpted out of some type of coral. And there are even murals of monsters coming out of pools of water, walking on all fours and eventually walking on two legs

Weary for a second of looking at these ghastly surroundings Zephaniah wanders through the labyrinthine complex. Occasionally he'd see people but mostly monsters. Not quite fungi, not quite human. The humans he did meet were in their cells practicing for war. They were fighting with maces and axes of indeterminate origin. It was as if they were made of dream itself. It's dark and moist like being inside a lung or a heart if you can imagine if you shrank down in size. The only light sources were coming off of a phouspherent fungi on the walls. But sitting on 3 pedestals were three objects.

A staff containing a sliver of his power forged from a dying star itself. A robe of watchfulness. It writhes and sees all. Also a book of power written in ink from stardust and blood of men gone mad.

"I'm sure you'll find this panoply useful as one of your stature."A voice says. It's voice eerie and ancient. Like a terror from eons.

Looking at this panoply . He is amazed. Imagining all this power has excited him. He picks them up. And he vanishes like a match light. In a pop he reappears in a place of carnal dark desire. Organs of humans festoons the ceilings. Eyes from who knows what float in jars of liquid. There eyes seemingly moving to get a good look at him. Tables are set up it's a mess hall, turned into a kitchen. Food covers the tables. But the food is unappetizing and otherwise inedible. Bones litter the floor in which a creature is busy turning it into bread. Zephaniah is now on the Plane of Heaven. In one part in particular. He is in Hell.

Meanwhile in Falstaff, war is brewing as the the creatures from the land of dreams are attacking the masked people of Falstaff. Who are in turn in the process of invading the world of Abel. The mask represents something different from one individual to another. Masks are personal. One could tell what a person is by looking at the mask. Scary looking masks would denote a person as a fierce being like that of a soldier or mutant. Mellow looking masks may say the person is a healer or pacifist. A blank mask is found on those who are to young to decide or is in the process of deciding. Taking off ones mask is a grave insult unless it's been done by a priest or shaman or by ones own hand. Often a priest would take it off to add a new one on or to change the appearance of the mask.

Falstaff is a jungle or swamp much like the swamps of Abel. But it's culture is different in that most of the land is wasteland. Much of it has been affected by a war a long time ago. Nuclear waste is everywhere. Which has produced hideous monsters and mutations in people. Towns and cities however are vibrant and lively, a kaleidoscope of color and at night it glows like neon. It has little drinking water so most of the time they invade Abel to get food and drink. Sometimes the people of Falstaff will trade with the Crocodile Clan. How they get to the world of Abel is by a secret that Falstaff keeps, some say it's by people from beyond reality.

So Falstaff stands ready to make a deal with the Crocodile ruler, they would be given food in exchange for their help in the war. Their weapons and mutations will help greatly in the war.

And the Shantak has found that he has been gifted by his spellbook. His skin is oily and thick yet rotting like rotten meat, his head is that of some nightmarish lizard, he has bat like wings of shadow and he is the size of the sky itself. His arms and legs skinny as bone yet strong like a vice.

Meanwhile in the plane of dreams, a boy awakens and finds himself floating on a plain of clouds. It felt like sleeping on a warm wet pillow. He opens his eyes and gasps. He rights himself up, somehow he's floating. Sort of like treading water. He swims until suddenly he bumps into a tree he didn't see a second ago. It had a face that wouldn't be considered carved if examined. It was more like the face developed naturally off the tree itself. If a carver did it he must have been a master not seen in a millennia. Laughter of children can be heard. But no children in sight. He turns around and movement rushes past him where their were none. He turns and sees no one, but beneath the tree lies a drum. It is wrapped around by some seaweed and it is bound with what he somehow innately knew was human sinew. The laughter gets louder and if it makes sense more delirium inducing. The sky turns from top to bottom from a clear and sunny to dark and cloudy. Even the cloudy ground grows violent. And the tree starts shaking and quivering. Until it reveals it's not a tree but some malign plant. With a face of pure menace and insanity it's branches that were shaped like twigs are now shaped like clawed hands. Some branches are even shaped like fangs. It reaches for him. And at that he truly wakes up in his bed, the drum placed squarely between his legs. Sweat pouring down his face. Lightning can be heard in the distance.

Somewhere deep in the oceans from Kain to Abel to Falstaff, war drums and the howling screeches of otherworldly creatures are inching ever forward toward the surface.

Meanwhile on a far off secluded island. A powerful but slow to rise force has awoken. The Silver Dragon roused from the dastardly deeds of evil of Zephaniah the Shantak.

Meanwhile in Abel. As the mad mighty sorcerers chant before an altar in a blood red circle. To send Abel to earth in a last ditch effort to get Earth's help. They peer in the circle , at Earth. Weaving seemingly the tapestry of reality itself. They notice and almost feel that Earth is almost tearing itself apart. As if a invisible bestial being was literally ripping it apart to shreds on the inside. Almost as if to break free from its earthy prison. And as the being turns to look at them as they feel. It turns to earth and shreds the last of it. The parts of Earth are jettisoned throughout the multiverse. The sorceries in the last effort imprison the being beneath the earth of Abel. For they knew the Beast must be contained.Earth is no more and Abel is doomed. The tapestry must be fixed. For if not the being will finally be free to destroy the multiverse. For now though it slinks around in its prison.