A Fear of the Unseen

Part 5- Siscerinth

Father Glazkov had a nightmare that night.

As you have read previously, this was quite a normal thing. However, this nightmare was not his usual garbled vision of nightmarish creatures falling from the stars, chanting H'kahelnyr's name as they made their rapid descent.

No, this nightmare was very clear, clearer than most nightmares are. He could see a city, but it was unlike any city he had ever seen. The architecture was more complex and confusing than any other city he had ever seen. In fact, if the average person were to step within its limits, they could not be completely sure if they were upside-down or not. The whole city shimmered with a color not found on the natural spectrum, making it difficult for Father Glazkov to process the whole city at once. It was an incomprehensible mess, but it was, nonetheless, a beautiful city. This was, of course, the grand city of Siscerinth.

It was at this moment that Father Glazkov noticed another thing odd about his dream: no chanting in the background. There was always chanting in the background. Always songs of the Dark Mother, of her superiority, of her power, of her supremacy. But there was none of this. Instead, there were merely whispers. Thousands of voices overlapping, whispering desperately in a language that Father Glazkov had never heard, but was somehow able to understand.

Soon, Father Glazkov gained his bearings and ventured inside of the city. It was obviously made for beings of a higher consciousness, as it was very easy to misstep and find yourself on the ceiling of a completely different room. But after what seemed like hours, he finally made it to the center of the city, where the unnatural glow was strongest. It was contained within a building that seemed to dominate the rest, crackling with energy and occasionally launching beams of light into the sky. Glazkov stumbled around for a bit- crawling on his hands and knees towards the end- until he found what seemed to be an entrance to the building.

As he pulled himself inside, he noticed the air was thicker, and at one point even questioned if it was air at all, as opposed to some sort of breathable water. He ventured deeper into the building, although "labyrinth" would be a better term. Eventually, Father Glazkov reached a center room.

The center room was much easier to comprehend. Its shape was somewhere between a dome and a cone, with the top cut off. Four large, metal claws were affixed to the rim of the opening, and the whirs and clicks of some infernal machine could be heard. But that was not the impressive part of the room. The impressive part was on the floor.

The first thing Glazkov noticed was a massive brain, which crackled and pulsated with some unknown energy, glowing with that otherworldly color, but different from other things that glowed with that color, stronger perhaps. Every now and then, it would release an arc of the aforementioned energy, which would land upon one of seven conduits. When all seven conduits were hit with the arc, a great beam of light would erupt from them, shooting into the sky.

Suddenly, the whispers grew faint, and soon disappeared altogether. And for a brief moment, Glazkov saw someone standing on the other side of the room. But at that moment, a tremendous tentacle- or a tail, perhaps- crashed through the wall. A maddening roar was heard, and all went black.