Appendix: Visions of the Past and the Future

Following their descent into the Undying King's Temple, the necromancer, Lydia attempted to cure Chulz and Okeanos of their astral corruption. During the ensuing ritual, the entity that the party now knows as the Scarlet Hunger lashed out in a wave of psionic magic that granted the party a set of visions, which at the time they assumed to be portents of what was to come.

*"You are all suddenly assaulted by a set visions in quick succession, each one instilling within you this sense of dread, you find yourselves in the middle of what was once a great city, now little more than a ruin, the echoing screams giving it a haunting quality as hanging in the shattered sky above is a crystalline palace, blinking lights present throughout, reflecting off of its surface and casting horrifying shadows upon the paved streets now stained with blood, ice and silver. Raven black wings eclipse the dying sun, leaving nothing but shadows as you see hordes of faceless men ravaging the streets, leaving nothing behind them but a feast of corpses. Above them, sitting atop a rotted throne is a dragon faced man with a golden crown, three curved daggers digging into his chest.*

*The second vision comes to you just as quickly and just as violently; as you find yourselves standing at the summit of a great mountain, a massive storm swirling over the horizon, an endless pile of gargantuan winged corpses lay at its feet, their once resplendent scales now dim and greying, crimson blood oozing from within their rotting wounds. A single mote of golden light flying defiantly before the storm, as from within erupts this many headed black dragon, its coming heralded by a sickly metallic smell as its black wings strangle that golden light.*

*In the third vision, you find yourselves at the edges of a coastal cliff, the smell of salt heavy in the air as the waves batter the bottom of the cliff. Behind you stands a rotted wooden mansion, alone atop this hill, overlooking a decrepit village to the west, its muddy roads now flooded by brackish water as fish faced men wade through the mire alongside serpents that slither along their feet. To the east, a lone tower stands atop another cliff parallel to yours, a fair distance away, with a single stone causeway reaching out into the sea, a seastone chair stands proudly at its end weathering the elements as a trio of faceless women worship it, completely oblivious to the crimson waves that batter their naked bodies. Sitting atop the throne is this humanoid figure, his skin covered in a thick layer of slime as eyes pop open along his body, strangely however his facial features are human, pale white skin and short unkempt black hair, his right eye radiating an amber light, whilst his left eye is covered with a patch. Black water seeps from beneath, as it falls away now unleashing a red glow as slime covered tendrils erupt out from beneath, the human becomes more squid than man, a monster fathered by a kraken of the deep, his face now a mass of writhing tentacles.*

*The final vision comes to you as quickly and as viciously as the last, as you see a massive port stretching out for miles and miles along the edges of a massive bay, five towers stand tall overlooking the opening of the bay, a blazing radiant light illuminating their top as thousands of ships swarm along the bay’s narrow entrance, adrift and burning on a boiling blood red sea. A galleon stands out at the centre, a sow of a ship belching out a trail of blood and spilling its guts into the sea below, as a black wave quickly approaches over the horizon, a massive shadow at its head, a tall and twisted thing with three eyes of differing colours; black, red and yellow, and ten long arms that stretch outwards as it sails forth on a sea of blood before the tide engulfs the towers and drags the screaming inhabitants of the port into the depths.*

*And then there is nothing, only a cold silence that is suddenly pierced as all of you hear a voice echo in your heads, for some of you it is a familiar voice, although far more somber than when you’ve previously spoken to him, the voice of Artemis. “It seems like things have gotten out of hand, I’m sorry, I really am, I’d genuinely hoped you’d succeed that you’d either kill or save the newborn, either outcome would have been better, but now things have been set in motion that can’t be stopped. I really have fucked it up, they’ll never let me live this one down. He’s awake now, old gods stir, and the current ones look on in fear. What an interesting time to be alive. I was once posed a question and I couldn’t really understand what they meant, so I’ll ask you instead, “Have you ever wondered, what happens when dead gods dream?”*

*The voice fades away, leaving you all with a sense of emptiness, as the red miasma begins to diminish, you are struck by one final vision, not an omen however, but rather the vestiges of a memory, you all stand inside a dimly lit room, a group of faceless individuals staring back at you, as you hear an unfamiliar female voice speak to you, “And what of you, what will you do?”*

*A warped male voice responds, “It’s not like I have much of a choice, do I?”*

*The female voice replies, all the while faceless figures staring back at you, “You always have a choice, you can leave right here and right now, hopefully live out your life free, but destiny will always drag you back on course.”*

*There is no reply as the vision fades away completely and everyone apart from Chulz and Okeanos regain your senses within the room, the red mist now fading away, the astral horror withering into nothing. Those of you outside the circle, see the trio still inside, a clearly exhausted Lydia struggling to regain control of the ritual while Chulz and Okeanos stare blankly into nothing."*