The silence

Noise, sound, and the background activity of the world are constant in the life of a person or animal. So to have all of it stop was a terrible experience to all involved.

One minute the group was walking through the woods talking about what they would buy with the reward money from the quests completion and the next silence. An eternity of soundless existence in a quiet world.

It was only the beginning though as the ground below them shook and pulsed and black VOID spilled into the world around them. Before there eyes reality itself warped and died in a way there mortal eyes could never understand. The very essence of non-existence eating every thing around them like a great maw from beyond space and time dragging there sanity through the muck and mud of eldritch things.

T̷̗͌̄̀h̴̩̙̰͛̂͠ë̴̠͔̫̈́͘ ̸̙̲́̓̈Ŝ̶̝͈͎ḩ̶͕͌̈́̈́à̶͖̠͔d̵͚̳̤͌ḛ̵͇̺͝͝ ̶̞͍̯́c̵̜͛̐̌ȏ̵͕̘̖m̷̖͓̣̄̕ë̷̳́̽t̸̜̉̚h̴̤̟͆͝ͅ ̴̢̧͙́͝a̵̩̱͍͛n̴̫̘̈́̎d̶̫̠̾͐ ̴̢͙͓̚ẗ̶̛̠̞́̈́ḣ̶̨̢͎̓̌ē̷̡̂̏ ̸̝̰̀̉ą̷̪̦̋̐̎b̸͙͚͝ŷ̷̖̘͔́̚s̴̜̞̞̐̓̍s̶͈̓͜ ̸̟̏h̸̪͍̓́a̸̬͓̎͘s̵͙̝͊̌ ̴̬̊͝s̷̗̆̑ͅě̶͈̭e̴̢̼̚n̷̨̎͛̋ͅ,̶̡̨̰͂̉̕ ̷̰̞̦̐͋̆a̵͇̪͑̌̚ͅń̴͜͝d̸͓͍̏̓̐ ̷͍̠͛n̶̨͝ö̴̩̝́͒ṱ̷̀̕͝ ̶͓̿ẽ̵̹͈̊̕v̴̤̈e̷̟̟̾͛͋n̶̢̨̫̾̃ ̸̞̫̋t̴̬͈̼̒̕h̵̩̅̔̚ȁ̵̠̲͑t̵̥̫̊͛ ̶͕̌̓s̶͚̕ỡ̸̢̘̘̇ ̶̹̗̈́ṕ̴̡͈͘á̸̡͈̻l̵̜̰̑͒e̵̛̱̐͜ ̸͈̳̿k̴̘̾i̴̞͎̫̍̆́n̴͎͎̘̊̈́ĝ̴͕͍̈́̕ ̵̧̲͎̈̓h̶̘͗a̴̝̋̄v̵͍̘͛̈ẻ̷̞̬̀͝'̵̻̹́̆͜t̵̯̯̺͋̅h̸̟̄̉̾ ̶̠̲̹̓t̶̹̓h̵͎̘͋̂̿e̷̢̊̈́̋ ̸̨́ḟ̴̝̭̩̐̐ŏ̴̠͚̇͘r̷̩̲̚ḗ̶̯s̴̢̠̋̃̾į̵̥͇͝ĝ̷̮ḧ̵̼́͆ť̷̛͎͋ ̸̹͉̳́͌ṫ̶͇̖͜o̷͉̩̪̽̈͝ ̶͓̭͒̀͠ȓ̸͈͚͆͜-̵̡͚̀̃

What were they doing again? The group looked at each other in confusion as they checked themselves over to make sure they weren't missing anything and none of them were hurt. After doing so they continued on there way unheeding of the small tendril of blackest black that slithered up from the ground in there wake.

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In the adventures town of Belzerg strange events were happening. The songs of crickets in the evening had ceased, and the wildlife in and out of the town could no longer be found. Even the fantastical and magical beasts That had once infested the area providing a steady supply of enemy's for the adventurous sort to train on could no longer be found.

This of course had caused quite the upset in the town's economy as the once constantly spending adventurers were no longer using their gold at the rate they once were. While on the other hand the nearby farmers, hunters, and other professionals who depended on more common animals to go about there professions were kicking up a fuss at the loss of the animals.

This all combined with the fact reports had been coming in of people going missing only to show up days later with no memory of what had happened to them was causing a panic. Not even the adventurers were safe as a novice group during the beginning of all this went on a simple quest to kill some giant toads annoying some farmers only to show up weeks after they had left thinking they had only been walking for a day or two.

They weren't even paid for there efforts as by that point the toads had like all other animals in the area around belzerg had gone missing.

Two months into what people were calling the great disappearance the noises of the world were starting to become quieter and quieter. People would speak more softly children would cry and cream less, and people would end conversations as quickly as possible.

For months the quite would slowly get more and more prominent until on the eve of the anniversary of a full year after the start of these phenomena silence descended fully upon the city in its totality. No noise could be heard for a full day throughout the entire city.

Then with the sudden ringing of bells sound hit the city like a wave as the next year rolled in. The sounds of crickets singing, houses settling, cows mooing, dogs woofing, cats meowing, and the magical creatures of the forest and fields outside belzerg doing whatever it is they do came back full force.

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Earth cracked and splintered as the once small tendrils of the blackest black broke through the ground around them, and with them came a single slightly clawed hand made of the same black as the tendrils around them.

Then came a second hand as it pulled the rest of the body to the surface. A mask pale as the moon with two long horns that had a single divot on the end. Eight holes of black from which nothing but a unending abyss stated through, then came the rest of the body.

A cloak of blue that covered the upper half of the skinny torso under which the signs of a body also made of the same substance of the tendrils that yet still writhed around the figure.

Finally as the last of the body came into view at over ten feet tall with legs that ended in sharp points and a skinny body the figure towered over all things around it.

As the figure looked around itself it cracked its head to the side before reaching once more into the abyss of writhing black to pull out a nail of pure pale ore that it put on its back somehow keeping it there without a sheath.

Nodding to itself it with but a swipe of its hand closed the hole into the abyss and set off to explore this strange new land it found itself in. It was nothing like Hallownest. The moon shone in the sky giving off a pure pale glow in the night, and the area around it gave off strange sounds and noises.

The bugs around it were small, smaller than they should be, and there mind had no hint of the thought and purpose that the ones of the kingdoms had. These were like the savage bugs he had found in his travels throughout the savage lands in his younger days. Maybe he would find bugs that would speak to him.

He so did hope there story's would be fascinating.