@everyone (cw: pit shrine related gore)

[unwings]

It’s time we address the behemoth released from the shrines.

For those who weren’t in the pit, we shared the cavern with 4 occult shrines that produced a steady flow of blood. When the exterior of each was removed, a second was beneath - an armored figure with a spiked halo knelt in prayer, bleeding from empty eye sockets. Save for one other - a standing, armored skeleton-like humanoid carrying the upper half of an iron maiden, and wielding a spiked ball at the end of what appeared to be a chain of its own small intestines.

When the last of these shrines were opened, pillars of writhing flesh struck through the pit’s ceiling. Later, it was apparent these were the monster’s legs, and some were crushed underfoot when it began to retreat from its cage.

Proximity to the shrines caused a flood of sinister whispering and visions of a shadowed figure, and those of us succumbed to the ritual’s effects felt a certain draw to them. It’s unclear if the acolytes were hoping we’d interact with these shrines, as they never intervened, but the monster’s escape caused the eventual collapse of the pit and did them no favors.

Did anyone in the rescue team see where it went, after it broke off from the cavern? Best we learn what this creature is and what it’s capable of before we encounter it again.

There will be a cross-faction book exchange and research effort hosted in Istredd's domain regularly. Please come by if you’re interested in helping with this, sharing books not available in your faction, or any other pursuit of this world’s knowledge.


And, if anyone’s seen Dean Winchester - in the Horizon or otherwise - Sam, Jo and I would appreciate a word.

Comments

[unwings]

Can we not call it my monster?

[ but he's apparently fine with your winchester ]

No names, no. I witnessed a vision of a snow covered mountain surrounded by three hands, and another of a shadowed figure surrounded by black smoke or fog walking across a red landscape that seemed to... drip upwards?

[mobezon]

I will see if there's anything in Solvunn regarding books, unless some others have already tried their efforts. Then please let me know how I can assist?

{ mostly to everyone else: }

Don't blame Castiel for the monster being released.

{ look, what stays in the pit stays in the pit. he's not going to snitch. }

[unwings]

Death does not tend to stick to Dean. He'll be back.

[itookashot]

[ There is a long pause as he considers this. ]

I hope you're right, but at a point, remember it's cruel to give false hope to people grieving.

[unwings]

What I told Michael is "a shadowed figure surrounded by black smoke or fog walking across a red landscape that seemed to... drip upwards". It also appeared to have a clawed hand, jaw length hair, and... heels?

[thedevilwhorose]

Heels, well, at least it has fashion sense.

[unwings]

I am the people grieving.

[ he and his household, and they all know What We Do when someone appears to have died. if there's not a body, they aren't dead. if there is a body, we're doing a spell or making a deal. frankly, he couldn't give less of a shit what others think about false hope. dean's coming back, if cas has to drag him up from the bowels of this place's underworld too. ]

Dean's died more times than most humans have lived years.

Just tell me if you see him.

[itookashot]

[ He messages Sam to give him a head's up. ]

Look around places with water, since that's where you saw him last. Beaches. Lakes. Fishermen can be helpful, don't know if there are any in that area, but you should ask.

[unwings]

I'm sorry, I don't recall seeing her there. The pit was dark and crowded, I may have missed her.

No, Dean's domain remains the same.

[unwings]

It’s alright, Louis, I don’t mind. Ignore my brother.

[ he’s been actually responsible for worse, and what are big brothers for if not giving you shit (after you damned them to an eternity in a hell cage) ]

Thanks for your willingness to help. Istredd’s also requesting those from the pit record their memories of it into books in his domain. It’ll help to consolidate all we experienced.

[familysucks]

You can call it whatever you like.

[Michael is sticking with his assessment. He's not wrong on either count.]

None of it sounds familiar. I hate to suggest it as much as you'll hate to hear it, but you'd do better to pass along the vision proper.

[earthborn]

I would assume that unless it drowned in the caves that it got washed out to sea, when the cavern flooded. I'd have said that something like that might not agree with saltwater and marine life, but hell if I know how anything works on this insane planet.

Creepy imagery aside, there's no reason to believe it's hostile, just big. Even a Thresher Maw only attacks what bothers it first.

[frontlinetitties]

You think it survived? I figured it got crushed and drowned when everything went to shit.

[She's unsure how to feel about it potentially roaming around somewhere. On the one hand, it didn't seem to dislike them. On the other...it was hella fucking big and did trample a bunch of people to death. Not ideal.]

[unwings]

I'm positive it survived. The creature's body was much larger than the cavern. If anything it's the structure that held the pit together.

It's escape is what caused the collapse. It was days gone by the time the pit finally caved in.

[unwings]

It's escape was what caused the cavern's collapse and flooding, it was larger than the entire structure. I doubt it could've been washed anywhere with that size.

The shrines seemed like ritual totems meant to seal it in. If it were as simple as drowning it in the sea, I doubt those before us would've done to such lengths to cage it.

[unwings]

I suppose I could pass it to you in the Horizon. Your domain or mine?

[unwings]

I intend to travel out towards the shore with Jo soon. We'll be investigating some disruptions at local taverns as well.

[itookashot]

If there are people out there, ask them if the beast was native. Seems like the wrong animals and kelp kept showing up in unusual places, almost like they were teleported. When I went sea-diving in Aquila with Sam the ship was thought sunk there wasn't found where it should be.

[unwings]

With a plot this involved, getting an idea of the bigger picture will be key. What was Josselyn Creed's goal in all this?

Was there a formal training facility for mages? The Conjunction of Spheres, I've heard that mentioned. Portals between worlds, I've known of, but never a colliding and crossover between two or more. It's fascinating.

I suppose the shrines might've been of great interest to you, if we'd had more time and better circumstances. Have you surmised any theories on the Singularity and it's purpose?

[unwings]

Yes, of course, the most important detail of this issue.

[frontlinetitties]

[She remembers the huge pillars of flesh that had been the things legs, hasn't really stopped to consider how vast it might be beyond that. It's not a fun thought.]

But wouldn't it have just ended up in the ocean and drowned? Or do you think its like...bigger than the ocean is deep? Not gonna lie, I have no clue about any of this shit. The planet I spent most of my life on didn't have an ocean.

You'd think a huge-ass creature like that just rampaging around the place would have got people talking.

[unwings]

I believe it's big enough it wouldn't have had issue making it to shore from the island if it'd wanted to go onto the land.

It survived sealed into an undersea cave for who can even say how long, without food, sunlight, or perhaps adequate oxygen. Who can even say how ancient this beast is? Perhaps it's a marine creature by nature, but if it didn't head towards the land, I don't imagine it'd submerge itself in an ocean it wasn't certain it could survive. All creatures have some basic instinct towards self-preservation.

[carmesi]

Perhaps this line of question about what this creature is should spread past us Summoned.
I don't know about the other places, but perhaps the elders in Solvunn might know about it. Stories, legends, whatever is being spread about. Likewise in Nocwich.

Perhaps if... someone could make sketches of it? The shrines? Make it so we all have the same kind of descriptors?

[magicalarchaeologist]

It sounds as if she is a religious fanatic of some kind. Some time ago, Thorne experimented on a Summoned to try and make our connection to the Singularity theirs, and it didn't work. I am wondering if she was testing out something similarly, to force the visions you all had to tap into that power we may have here simply by existing. This is all conjecture, of course. But instigating visions seems intentional and to an exact purpose.

Yes, we had a school for women and men, they were separate but connected. It is very intensive training, you live and breathe magic for a long time. And yes, we recently discovered that how we'd viewed the Conjunction was not correct. Coming here makes it only too clear there is much none of us know about the multiverse.

It is why I paid close attention to them while we were down there. I do have some ideas about the Singularity, but perhaps that is a better conversation in person. We are hoping to get more answers about Solvunn's magic too, as it is clearly very potent and yet Thorne and Free Cities scorned it all this time.

[unwings]

Agreed. Any information is more than we have now, and natives would certainly be more familiar. Solvunn's far more connected to the ancient lore of this world, it'd be a good place to start.

Art is not a skill I possess, but if an artist could meet me in the Horizon, I can transfer my memories of the shrines and what was seen of the creature.