Re: The Phenomenal Fracas! (GBS2G6): [Round Four: The Warped Edifice]
11-17-2011, 03:09 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Anomaly.
Total darkness is a very strange thing. Rarely had Syvex had the chance to experience it - even in the depths of Interstice he had never quite been able to escape entirely the presence of light. The absolute clarity offered to the serpent by this darkness was often thought by him as an experience to be cherished - after all, even after the state is attained, a single pinpoint of light is all that is necessary to again ruin the effect. Nonetheless, here, in the most unlikely of places, every nearby source of light had vanished utterly.
And yet, something was wrong. The world around Syvex, though somewhat clearer, was not nearly as enhanced by the darkness as it should have been. The frustratingly-opaque structure melted into nothingness no more than a few meters away from the serpent, the vast majority hidden from view. Syvex had vastly underestimated the severity of the power-crippling the voice mentioned - he, a creature of darkness, was practically blind in his own element! He briefly attempted to create a portal the size of his hand, but even that proved difficult to hold open for more than a few seconds.
He could at least take solace, however, in the fact that he was faring much better than his companion. The pirate was unable to see a thing in the blackness, and was forced to awkwardly lean on the serpent's shoulder to keep from losing her way. The under-dwellers, strangely, had no trouble navigating, probably because of their "god" or whatever (Syvex suspected they were just crazy).
As the four navigated down a series of relatively-normal, non-twisted hallways and flights of stairs, a very faint light once more crept into their perceptions. They had reached a long, grand hallway, reminiscent of a hotel foyer elongated to many times its normal length. At the end lay a single door, over which lay a long windowshade, behind which light seeped out unabated, bringing a small bit of illumination to the otherwise pitch-black temple. Ripper, finally able to see, released her grip on the serpent and stepped back.
"Our god..." Till began, pointing at the door, "dwells within... that room."
Syvex felt much less anxious than one might expect at the prospect of a couple of distorted possibly-humans showing him to their god, mostly because he expected them to be worshipping a cardboard box or something.
A magical cardboard box.
Syvex followed the underdwellers across the hall to the door, until the two stopped, briefly whispering to each other while gazing at the serpent.
"Is there a problem?" Syvex questioned.
"Our god... requires that... we keep the lights... in this room... on at all times," Till slowly articulated. "Is that harmful... to you?"
Syvex sighed deeply. "Blackmask here was exaggerating a bit when he said the light would kill me. All it's really going to do is blind me and maybe cripple me slightly more than this place does already. If we have to go through here, let's get it over with."
The under-dwellers nodded to each other, then threw open the wholly unimpressive door (which, incidentally, was labeled "Swimming Pool"), flooding the foyer-corridor with the bright light within. Prepared as he was, Syvex was nonetheless taken aback by the sudden wave of luminosity, and the complete blindness that came with it. He stumbled through the door, trailing behind the pirate, who, although temporarily blinded, was quickly adjusting to the light. Inside was seemingly a number of swimming pools tiled together to form an especially large one, its water perfectly still. Down each wall, large blood-red tapestries were hung, each crudely depicting the god engaged in a variety of actions, most notably healing the malformed people of the hotel.
Most notable, however, was the golden throne placed on the other end of the pool, upon which sat an otherwise-unassuming figure dressed in extravagant gold-and-red robes. Upon his head sat a very large and unusual headdress, covered in brightly-colored feathers and entirely obscuring his eyes. The underdwellers immediately dropped to their knees in his presence. Not wanting to offend, Ripper quickly followed suit. Syvex, naturally, made no recognition of the gesture, but even if he hadn't been blind, and even if he had legs in the first place, he might not have anyway. The man on the throne, slightly surprised at the sight of these strange visitors, stood from the throne and immediately addressed them:
"Greetings, mortals. I am Xiuhcoatl, God of the Underlands," he announced in a booming, authoritative voice. "I must ask you for the benefit of my subjects: why have you come?"
"Hell if I know," Syvex replied. "We were thrown into here by some guy, or something, called the Prestidigitator. Dunno why, but he's making us fight to the death, and putting us somewhere else with each death. There used to be eight of us. I think there are only five now. If you're really a god, why don't you go kill him?" At this point Ripper was unsurprised by his utter lack of respect for the leader of the people who technically had them captive, god or not. "At the very least you could send us ho-" Syvex paused for a moment. "...to safety."
Xiuhcoatl paused for a moment. "I'm afraid I cannot do that, mortals. None who enter the Underlands can ever be allowed to leave, I am afraid. However, I do not doubt that you have come from far away, perhaps from other realms of being entirely. I must ask a few further questions of you. I will start with you, woman in red. You seem to-"
"Wait, woman?" Syvex questioned. He wasn't exactly good at determining human genders if they weren't obvious. Ripper gazed at the god in surprise and annoyance.
"Yes. Although she hides herself under a disguise, I can see who she truly is. Now then, one in red. You seem to possess an unusual technology on your person, one foreign to this world. Would you care to explain it?"
"No." Frankly, Ripper was getting tired of this "Xiuhcoatl", if that was even his real name. A real god wouldn't need to ask her about the Core to find out what it is.
"I see. How unfortunate." The god frowned for a moment before returning to his previous, stolid expression. "In that case, perhaps you would like to explain yourself to me, serpent. I notice a strange energy emanating from you, not of this realm."
"Alright, sure, why not?"
"Ya blaggard, don't-" Ripper attempted to interject, interrupted immediately by the overtly foolhardy serpent.
"I don't know, it's just some kind of dark energy. Some scientists had a better description of it, but you can't expect me to remember that. It lets me see everything around me without eyes, it lets me see through things in the darkness, it lets me open portals through space, fire exploding bursts of it, regenerate anything that doesn't kill me... Why do you ask? Wouldn't a god be able to tell these things already?"
"As I have said, you are not of the Underlands. I wished my subjects to have a better understanding of you, which you have provided. Thank you, serpent. Alm. Till. Please take our guests to their rooms. I hope you do not mind remaining in the temple for a short while. You will not be harmed, do not worry." The god sat back in his throne, saying nothing further.
"Please... come with... us," Alm beckoned to Syvex and Ripper. Exchanging glances, the two of them followed the underdwellers out of the room and back into the darkness.
"Xiuhcoatl" turned to the few followers who remained within his throne room. "Thank you, my subjects. Please leave the room for now, and ensure that no one enters until I give the signal." The underdwellers immediately complied with his order. One of many perks of being a god, he supposed.
His followers gone, Agent Saenger removed a small, handheld communicator from beneath his robes, and immediately pressed several buttons.
"Dr. Beringer, this is Agent Saenger."
A deep voice crackled over the communicator. "Again? What's going on down there?"
"Yes, again. We've got a couple more potential SCPs in the temple right now. One's an unidentified piece of technology which emits a powerful sort of energy reading. Its function is unknown, and its holder refused to talk."
"And the other?"
"The other was much more open about itself. Some sort of enormous purple-black snake, with no eyes, but a lot of arms. It was also covered in spikes. If its word is to be trusted, it possesses both powerful regenerative capabilities, extremely acute vision, and space-bending capabilities. Looking at a potential Euclid here, maybe even Keter. Fortunately, it seems to be weakened by bright light."
"This is troubling, Agent. Three new SCPs in a single day, in a secure location? Practically unheard of."
"It gets worse, doctor. Some of the SCP-184-1 have informed me that two more unusual beings have been sighted on the outskirts of the town."
"Do you have the two new arrivals secured?"
"Yes, they seemed cooperative. Will a containment team be arriving shortly?"
"They've already been dispatched. Try to keep them under control; we don't want an outburst like the 'sandman' incident a couple hours ago."
"Understood. Saenger out."
The agent sighed. It was going to be a long day.
Total darkness is a very strange thing. Rarely had Syvex had the chance to experience it - even in the depths of Interstice he had never quite been able to escape entirely the presence of light. The absolute clarity offered to the serpent by this darkness was often thought by him as an experience to be cherished - after all, even after the state is attained, a single pinpoint of light is all that is necessary to again ruin the effect. Nonetheless, here, in the most unlikely of places, every nearby source of light had vanished utterly.
And yet, something was wrong. The world around Syvex, though somewhat clearer, was not nearly as enhanced by the darkness as it should have been. The frustratingly-opaque structure melted into nothingness no more than a few meters away from the serpent, the vast majority hidden from view. Syvex had vastly underestimated the severity of the power-crippling the voice mentioned - he, a creature of darkness, was practically blind in his own element! He briefly attempted to create a portal the size of his hand, but even that proved difficult to hold open for more than a few seconds.
He could at least take solace, however, in the fact that he was faring much better than his companion. The pirate was unable to see a thing in the blackness, and was forced to awkwardly lean on the serpent's shoulder to keep from losing her way. The under-dwellers, strangely, had no trouble navigating, probably because of their "god" or whatever (Syvex suspected they were just crazy).
As the four navigated down a series of relatively-normal, non-twisted hallways and flights of stairs, a very faint light once more crept into their perceptions. They had reached a long, grand hallway, reminiscent of a hotel foyer elongated to many times its normal length. At the end lay a single door, over which lay a long windowshade, behind which light seeped out unabated, bringing a small bit of illumination to the otherwise pitch-black temple. Ripper, finally able to see, released her grip on the serpent and stepped back.
"Our god..." Till began, pointing at the door, "dwells within... that room."
Syvex felt much less anxious than one might expect at the prospect of a couple of distorted possibly-humans showing him to their god, mostly because he expected them to be worshipping a cardboard box or something.
A magical cardboard box.
Syvex followed the underdwellers across the hall to the door, until the two stopped, briefly whispering to each other while gazing at the serpent.
"Is there a problem?" Syvex questioned.
"Our god... requires that... we keep the lights... in this room... on at all times," Till slowly articulated. "Is that harmful... to you?"
Syvex sighed deeply. "Blackmask here was exaggerating a bit when he said the light would kill me. All it's really going to do is blind me and maybe cripple me slightly more than this place does already. If we have to go through here, let's get it over with."
The under-dwellers nodded to each other, then threw open the wholly unimpressive door (which, incidentally, was labeled "Swimming Pool"), flooding the foyer-corridor with the bright light within. Prepared as he was, Syvex was nonetheless taken aback by the sudden wave of luminosity, and the complete blindness that came with it. He stumbled through the door, trailing behind the pirate, who, although temporarily blinded, was quickly adjusting to the light. Inside was seemingly a number of swimming pools tiled together to form an especially large one, its water perfectly still. Down each wall, large blood-red tapestries were hung, each crudely depicting the god engaged in a variety of actions, most notably healing the malformed people of the hotel.
Most notable, however, was the golden throne placed on the other end of the pool, upon which sat an otherwise-unassuming figure dressed in extravagant gold-and-red robes. Upon his head sat a very large and unusual headdress, covered in brightly-colored feathers and entirely obscuring his eyes. The underdwellers immediately dropped to their knees in his presence. Not wanting to offend, Ripper quickly followed suit. Syvex, naturally, made no recognition of the gesture, but even if he hadn't been blind, and even if he had legs in the first place, he might not have anyway. The man on the throne, slightly surprised at the sight of these strange visitors, stood from the throne and immediately addressed them:
"Greetings, mortals. I am Xiuhcoatl, God of the Underlands," he announced in a booming, authoritative voice. "I must ask you for the benefit of my subjects: why have you come?"
"Hell if I know," Syvex replied. "We were thrown into here by some guy, or something, called the Prestidigitator. Dunno why, but he's making us fight to the death, and putting us somewhere else with each death. There used to be eight of us. I think there are only five now. If you're really a god, why don't you go kill him?" At this point Ripper was unsurprised by his utter lack of respect for the leader of the people who technically had them captive, god or not. "At the very least you could send us ho-" Syvex paused for a moment. "...to safety."
Xiuhcoatl paused for a moment. "I'm afraid I cannot do that, mortals. None who enter the Underlands can ever be allowed to leave, I am afraid. However, I do not doubt that you have come from far away, perhaps from other realms of being entirely. I must ask a few further questions of you. I will start with you, woman in red. You seem to-"
"Wait, woman?" Syvex questioned. He wasn't exactly good at determining human genders if they weren't obvious. Ripper gazed at the god in surprise and annoyance.
"Yes. Although she hides herself under a disguise, I can see who she truly is. Now then, one in red. You seem to possess an unusual technology on your person, one foreign to this world. Would you care to explain it?"
"No." Frankly, Ripper was getting tired of this "Xiuhcoatl", if that was even his real name. A real god wouldn't need to ask her about the Core to find out what it is.
"I see. How unfortunate." The god frowned for a moment before returning to his previous, stolid expression. "In that case, perhaps you would like to explain yourself to me, serpent. I notice a strange energy emanating from you, not of this realm."
"Alright, sure, why not?"
"Ya blaggard, don't-" Ripper attempted to interject, interrupted immediately by the overtly foolhardy serpent.
"I don't know, it's just some kind of dark energy. Some scientists had a better description of it, but you can't expect me to remember that. It lets me see everything around me without eyes, it lets me see through things in the darkness, it lets me open portals through space, fire exploding bursts of it, regenerate anything that doesn't kill me... Why do you ask? Wouldn't a god be able to tell these things already?"
"As I have said, you are not of the Underlands. I wished my subjects to have a better understanding of you, which you have provided. Thank you, serpent. Alm. Till. Please take our guests to their rooms. I hope you do not mind remaining in the temple for a short while. You will not be harmed, do not worry." The god sat back in his throne, saying nothing further.
"Please... come with... us," Alm beckoned to Syvex and Ripper. Exchanging glances, the two of them followed the underdwellers out of the room and back into the darkness.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Kolman Saenger, agent of the SCP Foundation, relaxed as the intruders exited his chamber. Though he had performed this duty for two years now, he had been sincerely worried that his cover would be blown by the foreigners. Perhaps more worrying, though, were the readings given by his "headdress"'s built-in scanning device - two more potential SCPs had wandered right into the temple, and had been successfully taken into his "hospitality". Especially worrying was the description the snake gave of himself - there was little reason to believe he was lying, given the reaction of his companion."Xiuhcoatl" turned to the few followers who remained within his throne room. "Thank you, my subjects. Please leave the room for now, and ensure that no one enters until I give the signal." The underdwellers immediately complied with his order. One of many perks of being a god, he supposed.
His followers gone, Agent Saenger removed a small, handheld communicator from beneath his robes, and immediately pressed several buttons.
"Dr. Beringer, this is Agent Saenger."
A deep voice crackled over the communicator. "Again? What's going on down there?"
"Yes, again. We've got a couple more potential SCPs in the temple right now. One's an unidentified piece of technology which emits a powerful sort of energy reading. Its function is unknown, and its holder refused to talk."
"And the other?"
"The other was much more open about itself. Some sort of enormous purple-black snake, with no eyes, but a lot of arms. It was also covered in spikes. If its word is to be trusted, it possesses both powerful regenerative capabilities, extremely acute vision, and space-bending capabilities. Looking at a potential Euclid here, maybe even Keter. Fortunately, it seems to be weakened by bright light."
"This is troubling, Agent. Three new SCPs in a single day, in a secure location? Practically unheard of."
"It gets worse, doctor. Some of the SCP-184-1 have informed me that two more unusual beings have been sighted on the outskirts of the town."
"Do you have the two new arrivals secured?"
"Yes, they seemed cooperative. Will a containment team be arriving shortly?"
"They've already been dispatched. Try to keep them under control; we don't want an outburst like the 'sandman' incident a couple hours ago."
"Understood. Saenger out."
The agent sighed. It was going to be a long day.