Black Seas of Infinity

You awaken in a large room with little natural light. You feel some kind of pressure weighing on you, almost like it is weighing you down. A stinging sensation starts from the back of your head and envelopes you. You fall to your knees holding your head in pain. As the pain begins to diminish and your eyes begin to adjust to the surroundings you realize that you are not alone. You see 4 other people in the room with you all of varying age, race, and gender. Once the pain subsides you bring yourself to your feet and look around the room. You do not recognize where you are and you see strange symbols scrawled over the walls. The floor which you and the others in the room stand on is black, but it is not like anything you have ever seen before. It doesn't look like a solid surface. In fact, the more you look at it the more it seems like it is moving or that it is an entity all its own. You see some of the other people in the room begin to converse with one another. You walk over to the group and listen thier remarks about what is happening. Just as you are about to ask a question for yourself, you feel an overwhelming pain in your head. It looks as though the others feel it as well, but to varying degress. Some it is a simple wince, but others are brought to their knees with the pain. You seem to got the worst of it as you can't stand, you can barley see straight. You collapse to the floor, blood streams from your nose, eyes and ears. Through the tears and blood you see evryone begin looking in your direction. You look up and can see a tall black figure standing over you. Thats when you hear a voice say to all of you in a sinister tone, "Welcome all of you. I have waited long for this. All of you know little of how you got here or what has happened, but you will, or rather most of you will. Some of you will survive what is to come and some of you will not. The inner workings of the mind have always intrigued me. Specifically how far ones mind can be pushed before it breaks. I look forward to seeing how far all of your minds can go and how much you all can take. Escape will be difficult, but not impossible. The question you should ask yourselves is if you really want to escape. Goodluck all of you, and welcome to an end." The pain starts to subside and you wipe away the blood and tears. You see out of the corner of your eye the figure kneel down behind you. "Get up my //special// child. Your story is not finished yet." Before you can get a clear look at who or what that figure was they dissapear into the darkness of the floor. One of the people in the room comes to you and extends his hand to help you up. [[Get up yourself|Reaching Out]]

As you get to your feet, the man who extended a hand kindly offers you his hankerchief to clean yourself up. "Here ya are buddy, get that blood cleaned up so we can all have a chat." You take a moment to clean and compose yourself. There was a lot more blood than you thought. You walk over to the group and get a more detailed look at them. The man closest to you is a shorter, stockier black man, wearing navy blue jeans and a flannel button down shirt. He introduces himself as Robert Olmstead. To your left are two women. The first of which is tall oriental woman, you estimate her to be about 6'3 based on your own height. She sports a dirtied light blue blouse and black skirt. She says her name is Alice Marsh. The woman next to her is a more petite white woman who looks much more prim and proper than the others. She wears a white blouse and black trousers, she also wears glasses that are a bit too large for her petite face. She introduces herself as Lavinia Whateley To your right is the man who gave you the hanckerchief. He wears a disheveled and partially torn blazzer with black slacks. He finally introduces himself to you and the rest as Francis Wayland Thurston. Similarly you introduce yourself, you offer him his now bloodied hankerchief back, to which he kindly refuses. Alice chimes in harshly "now that we are through with the introductions can someone please tell me what the hell is going on hear? How did we get hear? Where is hear? Who or what was that thing?" You all begin to stir and look around the room and at one another panicked. Francis snaps at you all "Get a hold of yourselves! We must keep our wits about us if we wish to get any of the answers we seek." This quiets all of everyone. He tells all of you to assess the surrounding more carefully. All of you begin walking around the room to see if you can find anything. Alice and Robert head to one side of the room which has a large door, Lavinia walks to another end of the room where the seems to be water or some wet substance, and Francis walks toward the far corner of the room which houses a sole telescope. Where do you want to search first? [[Search with Alice and Robert|The Gate]] [[Search with Lavinia|The mire]] [[Search with Francis|The Outer Realm]]

You walk over to the door Robert and Alice are standing by and look upon it. It is like nothing you have ever seen before. You look at the markings, symbols and various figures, none of them look anything like anything you or the others have ever seen. As you gaze upon it in close detail you see the carvings that are etched into the large door and are both intrigued and shaken. You see many shapes that have vague familiarity to animals. Bats, octopi, squid, and other odd creatures. There also seems to be human figures scrawled around in a circle. It seems they are kneeling in a semi-circle around some type of deity or god. After looking at the godly figure for a matter of seconds you feel different. To you it looks like some mixture of an octopus, a dragon, and a human caricature... A pulpy, tentacled head surmounted a grotesque and scaly body with rudimentary wings. Suddenly You feel something. Like something is wacthing you. Alice draws you and Robert's attention to the writing scrawled across the top of the collosal door. You look at the witing and can't make any of it out. "What the hell do you guys think that Gibberish says?" Alice says emphatically. "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn" Robert says in a seemingly trance like state. You and Alice look over at Robert stunned at how clearly he said those words in this strange dialect and how strangely he looks right now. Alice walks past you toward Robert stopping in front of him. You look the pair, but are being drawn towards something. Your eyes are drawn to the deity on the door. Something behind it is calling to you. You can feel it, you can feel that it sees you, that it feels you. Something behind the door reaches for you. You reach out and touch the door. As your hand presses its surface you can feel something pulling you in. Your vision begins to fade to black, when suddenly there is a flash of a color you have never seen before. It is something you do not understand. How the color came to be, what it is, and why, are all things you think before you fall. . . . . . . [[Wake up|The Call]]

You walk over to the damp mossy end of the room where Lavinia is hunched over a small replica ship which appears to be from World War 1. She reaches down towards it and begins playing with the small lifeboats hanging from the side of the replica ship. You look at the replica and how it is floating in this pool of water, or at least you think it is water. It is darker than water and upon closer inspection it is more viscous and coarse than water. It is like nothing you have ever seen. "What the hell is that shit?" Lavinia excalims You shake your head and look back to the ship. You think you see something glimmering in the watery muck. You reach down to try and grab it, but you prick the edge of your hand on the bow of the ship, cutting your hand. You wince and look down at your hand which starts bleeding. It is not terribly deep, but enough to draw blood. The blood begins to trickle down your hand some of which begin to fall into the muck. The glimmer you saw before is now gone and now the black wett muck has a tinge of red to it now. Suddenly the floor beneath you begins to turn to the same muck as that the replica ship sits upon. "What the fuck is happening?" Lavinia says panicked as the muck begins to engulf the pair of you. You try to run or move away but the muck has you and is pulling you and Lavinia down. Before you know it you see nothing but black. You can't breath. Everything goes black. [[Continue|the sea floor]]

You walk over to the corner of the room housing the telescope, which Francis curiously ponders over. "There are no windows in this room so what on Earth is this doing here? What purpose does this serve?" Francis says as he notices you approach him. You shake your head and shrug your shoulders looking at him. Next to the telescope is a chair. You seat yourself and begin looking at the telescope. It has modern design, but looks as though it has been in the room for decades. You lean down and put your eye to the telescope. What you see is quite simply incredible. You see the entire solar system as if it were right in front of you. Not only that you see the whole galaxy and the others surrounding it. You see the universe in its entirety. You can feel all of your synapses firing in amazment and wonder at what you are seeing. "Holy shit, Francis you have to see this. It.. it's wonderful." You say as you gaze upon the endless vastness of the universe. Suddenly you feel hands on your head pressing you forward making it impossible to pull away from the telescope. "Francis what the fuck, let me go!" You exclaim trying to shake free. Thats when you see it.... [[Continue|Azathoth]]

You wake upon the side of a cliff, overlooking the ocean. It is pouring rain and is terribly windy. It looks like you are in the metaphorical eye of the storm, but this storm is not natural. You call out for Alice and Robert, but it is to no avail. Lighting crackles the mountians' peak which is on the other side of what looks to be small cave. A thunderous roar follows, but it is not like any thunder you have heard before. It sounds more of something in anguish. You walk into the caves opening to get out of the storm for a moment. You find there is a door similar, no exactly alike the one you were inspecting before waking up here. You look upon the writing scrawled on the door. You try to understand and pronounce the words. the only words you feel you accuratly said was; "Cthulu... R'lyeh..." You begin hearing chanting on the other side of the door. You can't make out what is begin said through the door mixed with the noise from the rain. Suddenly you hear a scream. You believe it sounded like Alice. You attempt to [[open the door|The Great Old Ones]]

You press hard against the center of the door, which starts to give way and open. As the door slowly opens you can hear the chanting more clearly now. ''"//Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn//" "//Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn//"'' Another scream rings out much louder than before. As the door slowly opens you see what appears to be about a dozen people in dark robes standing in a circle around something. You walk a few paces closer and you notice they are standing around Alice and Robert who are tied down to what appear to be alters of some sort. Alice is struggling, but Robert doesnt move, he has a knife in his chest. Robert is dead. Standing over the two of them is a man wearing a similar robes to the others but this one has red markings on the hood. He stands over Alice and digs the knife out of Robert's chest and holds in above Alice. Alice screams and writhes about. You yell out and begin running over to help. Just as you are about to reach them he plunges the knife into her chest. The chanting stops all at once and all is now silent, save for the raging storm. You grab the mans arm and wrestle the knife from his grasp. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!?!" You exclaim. "We have woken the great dreamer. We have given this word once again to The Great Old Ones. We have freed Cthulu from his eternal slumber in the wretched city of R'lyeh." You look down at Alice and Robert. The light has drained from their eyes and life from their bodies. Suddenly all the robed members go to ground and begin kneeling towards the cliff side. They begin some sort of prayer "Throdog r'luhhor, tharanak bugahagl ymg' lloigazath. f' ah'n'gha nilgh'ri" You gaze out towards the sea into the storm and see nothing but darkness and rain. A ferocious bellowing cry rings out from across the horizon. A lighting strike follows soon after lighting up the sky, thats when you see it. In that split second flash of light you see the silhouette of a great winged beast with tentacles protruding from its body, it stands on legs like that of a man and has arms just as monstrous. Just in that moment you felt it. You felt darkness engulfing you, no, Engulfing the world. You felt him gaze upon you. Gaze into you. In that moment you became one with the beast. Suddenly you feel a presence behind you and a hand on your shoulder. Before you are able to check who it is the world around you goes dark. You hear nothing, see nothing, and feel... nothing. [[Continue|Nyarlathotep 1]]

You suddenly are back in the room in which you began. As if nothing has happened or changed, but Robert and Alice are not with you, nor are they in the room at all. You look over and Lavinia is still over checking the corner of the room with some slightly watery or wet substance and Francis is still inspecting the telescope. Neither of them are moving infact everything in the room is completly still including the air. You start to feel the same presence from a moment ago on the cliff. You turn around and are met with a shadowy figure in a cloak. Out of the right sleeve of his cloak you can see what appear to be tendrils or tenticles. You take a small step back from them. "I do not mean harm to you child. You are simply a pawn in a game and I wish to see how that game ends." "Who.... what are you?" you manage to mutter. "That matters not to you in the grand scheme, but maybe you shall come to understand who I am and what that means for you. First you must decide if you wish to continue on this venture to seek answers or if you wish to make a grand choice now. Which shall it be?" Tell him you seek answers [[continue your venture|Seek answers (Cthulu)]]

The figure disapears in front of you and the room comes back to motion. You can feel the air move again and see Lavinia and Francis moving on the other side of the room. Which of the two do you wish to approach first? [[Lavinia|The mire]] [[Francis|The Outer Realm]]

You wake up in the blistering heat under a clear bright sky. As you look around you see you are in the middle of a nowhere. Surrounding you is a wasteland of this watery muck you saw back in the room as well as scattered carcases of different sea creatures, octopi, squid, fish, and some things you have never seen before. To your back is a toppled over life boat with some food and water. You try and stand but the ground is too damp and uneasy for you to stand without it swallowing you whole. Hours pass and the sun sets. Now the moon is out and bright enough for you to see a large hill in the far distance. The moon sits just above its peak. You try to stand again, but it has the same effect as earlier so you sit back where you were. [[Try and get some rest|The Monolith]]

Days have past since you woke up here, you have eaten the majority of your food and drank nearly the last of your water. You try and stand for what feels like the thousandth time, but this time the ground holds firm. You take the remains of your food and water and start on towards the hill in the distance. After hours of walking you are glad you decided to go at night because the heat has been killing you, causing you to become delirious and see things. The past few nights you have dreamt of being on that ship, the same replica ship, but instead it is the true ship in World War 1. You remember panic and fright, but not why. All you remember is jumping into the lifeboat and then waking up back where you sat day after day. During the day you smell the ocean and see the carcases of those sea creatures whrithing about as if they were more than simple dead sea life. You are struggling to discern where the dreams end and the truth begins. You reach the bottom of the hill and begin your climb. You reach the top of the mound after some careful climbing only to be met with an immeasurable pit or canyon. You have come this far so you treck on and begin your descent into the canyon. As you carefully descend the canyon you notice a large white stone object near to what seems to be the bottom. After a few minutes you reach the bottom and see more clearly what that stone object is. It is a large monolith with symbols and ethchings on it, it clearly looks like some intelligent kind of creature put this hear. The symbols are of various dep sea life and the rather crude sculptures or etchings on the monolith seem to depict men - or at least some sort of men. The men figured here sport fish like characteristics as well, large gaps in the skin which seem gill like, and fin like protruberances coming from either their head or back, large flappy lips, and webbed hands and feet. They seem to be paying homage to some monolith which seems to also be under the seas. The setting bears quite the similar resemblance to the one you stand in currently. You look closer and begin thinking whoever scrawled out these drawings had their proportions wrong because it shows one of these beings as killing a whale, which is shown to be only a bit larger than themself. As you inspect further you notice that something is emerging from the watery muck behind the monolith. Before you had any time to react it darted like a stupendous monster of nightmares to the monolith, about which it flung its gigantic scaly arms. It bowed its head at the monolith, but did not seem to be praying. It was listening. You step back trying to leave without being noticed, but you slip and fall over, landing with a splashing thud in the watery muck. The creature turns to you and darts toward you quickly. Covering your face and closing your eyes in fright you prepare for the inevitable, but as you do you feel a familiar hand on your shoulder and then the world goes dark... [[Continue|Nyarlathotep 2]]

You open your eyes and find yourself back in the room, You look around and see that the room is still once again. Still no Alice or Robert and now there is no sign of Lavinia either. "You have now seen two of the 3 players in this eternal cosmic struggle whihc has plaugued our universe for eons. You must continue in this journey and find the answers you seek." The figure says to you from the shadows. "What the hell happened to Lavinia and why the fuck should I continue when all I am finding is nightmarish things which beg more questions?" You ask assertivly. "She was put through the same journey you just underwent, but did not choose to venture past that boat, she sat there until she ran out of food and withered away. I didn't intervene because if she cannot try to save herself then why should I? As for these 'nightmares', that is life child and if you do not accept that and venture forth you shall never truly live." You look at them distraught, not knowing what to say. "You have one final thing to see before you may understand things. Now push on little one, the role you play is vital and I want to see what choice you will make." They disapear into the shadows and the room comes back to life. All that is left is Francis and you. [[continue|The Outer Realm]]

Your mind goes blank as the vastness of the universe upon which you gaze disapears into a vast empty darkness. All you see is darkness... You begin hearing something bellowing in the darkness, which you don't understand because pysically you still feel yourself in the with Francis' hands around your head keeping you on the telescope, but you also feel the darkness and all that comes with it. You feel as though you are split from the physical and the fantastical. Both here and there. "LOOK UPON THE VOID AND SEE THE CHAOS." A voice booms from the darkness. Suddenly you begin seeing glimpses that last only an instant but feels like eternity. You see wars being fought, death, disease, planetary destruction, galactic annihilation. You see creatures and beasts all indescribable and that would drive men mad. In those creatures you see the two you saw earlier, the thing from the monolith and the beast from the cliff. "THE UNIVERSE KNOWS NOTHING BUT DARKNESS AND VIOLENCE! I CAN CHANGE ALL OF THIS! RID THIS SMALL PLACE OF STRIFE AND DEATH! GAZE UPON ME AND KNOW ETERNITY!" Before your eyes you see a writhing mass of pulpy tentacles and eyes the size of a galaxy. You look upon the beast in all of its monumental stature and are stunned. You feel your eyes begin rolling back in your head and your mind fading. Everything goes dark... [[Continue|Nyarlathotep 3]]

You wake up in the chair you were sitting in last. You look around and there is no sign of anyone including Francis. "I see you have finished the last trial and have met all three of them. You are ready." A familiar voice says from the other end of the room. "What the fuck do you mean I am ready? Who are the three of them? You mean those 3 monsterous things I saw? And what the fuck happened to Francis?" You exclaim to them. "As for this Francis I know not what you mean, as there was no one here under that name. I will explain the rest if you allow me child." "Wait what do you mean there was no one here called Francis? He was looking over hear at the telescope, he held my head so I couldn't look away." "Child, no one was looking at this telescope nor was anyone holding you while you gazed into it." "No that is impoassible..." "I believe I know what happened here but you must let me explain everything to you." "Then get explaining and you can start by telling me exactly who the fuck you are." You say demandingly "I am Nyarlathotep, The Crawling Chaos, an Outer God, Son of Azathoth. The three 'monsters' you saw were beings of various nature, but they are the main players in a grand cosmic war that has been going on for eons. The first you saw was Cthulu, one of the Great Old Ones. Him and his kind have been on this planet since its creation and mean to rule over all else in the universe by whatever means they see fit. Until you woke him from his eternal slumber in his prison of R'lyeh. Now that he is free he will gather the others of his kind and destroy the planet by turning every living thing into one of his play things known as the Cthuli. The second you saw was Dagon head of a race of under sea species called The Deep Ones. They have existed on this planet since its creation as well, but have lived under its seas for most of that time. They grow tired of all the grumblings coming from the land and the cosmos. They wish the world and universe to drown. Dagon and his followers destroy those who oppose them and for those who wish to join his cause they change them. They make them one of the deep ones as well as you probably saw scrawled on that monolith. The last one you saw was my father Azathoth. He is the creator of all things. He is also one of the Outer Gods, in fact he is THE Outer God. He wishes to be woken from his slumber to fix the universe. He hopes to solve all the violence and destruction that has begotten the universe. There will be consequences to what he plans, but I only know little of what shall happen if he is woken. You and you alone must make a choice. Join one of their sides and assist them in conquering the universe. It must be you, for that is how things must be." "so I have to be the one to make this decision simply because that is how 'it must be'?" You ask stunned. "I am afraid that is all I can say at this time and I am afraid that you have no choice, but to choose. For you see we have done this before you and I. Too many times to count, each more frustrating than the last. You choose to always not make a choice and that always lead straight back here. I give you these three choices everytime and you still continue to choose to do nothing. I am telling you that doing this again will have be of no avail and will bring you back to this very moment. So make your choice child." You look at him at a loss for words not knowing what to do. [[Join Cthulu|Ending 1]] [[Join Dagon|Ending 2]] [[Wake Azathoth|Ending 3]] [[Do Nothing|Darkly Dreaming]]

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