A Tale of the Grimm Troupe

Explained

     Aspen awoke to dim red light, a figure hanging from the ceiling in his fuzzy vision but there was no doubt in his mind who it was.

     "Master," he wheezed, propping himself on his many elbows.  Grimm's red eyes flashed open as he fell from the ceiling, landing on his feet and looking down at his magician.

     "Good to see you are alive," Grimm said, offering a drink to Aspen who took it gratefully.  "We were worried you had left us...."  Aspen drank slowly, being careful not to choke himself on the cool water.  "What did you see that made you collapse?"

     "Did you not see it, Master?" Aspen asked, swinging his long legs off of the bed.  "Can you not see that far down into Hallownest?"  Grimm's silence was answer enough.  "There are places you can't see into...aren't there...?"

     "Only four places in this kingdom are hidden from my sight," Grimm answered.  "The dark passage ways of Deepnest, the brutal mantis-ruled Fungal Wastes, the emptiness of the Howling Cliffs and deep into the Ancient Basin...which is strange."  He helped Aspen to his feet before continuing.  "We have been here before...but you remember that, don't you?"

     "I do," Aspen admitted.  He remembered only because it was the time he chose to give his life to the Nightmare Heart.  "One of the Grimmkin approached me when I was a court wizard of the Pale King's court.  They saw wasted potential in me simply being a pawn to the Pale King and brought me to you...directly out of the Palace...."

     "The White Palace," Grimm said, wistfully.  "What a wonderous place it was back before it vanished...."  Aspen looked at his master, wanting him to fill in the missing information.  "When the infection returned, the Pale King  vanished along with the entire White Palace itself...I saw the ruins when I was journeying through the kingdom...hoping to see him once more.  All I found was a broken kingsmould and the ruins of the entry-way arch."

     "Where did it go?" Aspen inquired, now curious.  Grimm shrugged. 

     "I would assume the Pale King retreated into the realm of dream," he postulated.  "The kingsmould shimmered with that essence which revealed it to be a gateway to somewhere else.  I tried to break through with the power of the Heart...but the wyrm is far stronger than the Heart...though that is akin to blasphemy."  Aspen nodded in understanding.  The Heart knew there were forces stronger than itself...didn't like to admit it but knew that the two lights were superior to itself...and even the eternal darkness was more powerful.  "I am surprised you came out of that horrible place unscathed...."

     "Master?" Aspen inquired again.  The look on his face told Grimm everything he needed to know.

     "You were closer to the Void then than you have probably ever been in your life," Grimm answered, calmly.  "You must not have ventured in such a way that you made contact with that darkness."  These words allowed Aspen to piece together the reason the vessel had gone down there...the vessels...the Void.  "The vessel went down there...didn't it?"

     "Yes," Aspen admitted.  "It left to a different area to do...something...and I fear what would happen if it were to unite the Void that created it...."  Grimm chuckled.

     "Then it could devour the Radiance trapped within the pure Vessel," Grimm explained.  "But also so much more...the Radiance will not die so easily...not with her...."  Before Aspen could ask, Grimm held up a hand to stop him.  "The vessel has collected the last of the fire...we will talk about this later.  Go and join the crowd...do applaud for me, will you?  It has been so long since I have danced that I fear I may be out of practice...."

     "The Troupe Master is never rusty with this dance," Aspen praised.  Grimm chuckled again as Aspen left the room, his fears pushed to the side for now.  However, he now had the strange feeling that he knew exactly where Grimm was going to send him to collect the scarlet fire...the best place in Hallownest to do so....