I feel the pull of the tunnel down below like a physical force. Yes, I would go down into the very heart of the Last Gamble. Anything to hide from these stars, to hide from what I’ve done. Maybe I’ll get lucky and Somewhere will swallow me up and that will be the end of me.

As I wade into the Milk, I can hear the telltale sounds of Anomalice churning in its depths. They watch me with stolen eyes, faces torn from those killed in the blast or in my rampage. I slash the liquid with my Blade, and they scatter. Sour creatures of Dice and Milk, they often crawl from the primordial stew and vex me - and now I’m heading into their lair. No matter - they die the same as the rest.

I sink my head below the Milk and dive.

-O-
I emerge from the thick, sludgy Milk quite some time later, emerging into a dry - but very dark - cavern. To one such as me, darkness holds no fear - touched by God’s light, I can see just as clearly down here. I almost wish I couldn’t.

The Anomalice are larger down here, freakish - and bold! A group of them pounce me at once, silent as always, and it’s all I can do block their advance with my Blade. I am thrown backwards, into the twisted dicestone walls, and I hear something crack. Filled with the burning rage of my God, I advance, crushing their mocking faces with the flat of my Blade before slicing them to nothing. The same rush as ever fills me when they finally expire, and I laugh with pleasure. At length, I stand panting in the dark, unharried for the moment - but their eyes glare at me from within the walls, glowing with the fading radiance of the divine power that sustained them. They dared not approach me yet, but they would wait for a moment’s weakness. I wouldn’t give them the luxury - I pressed on.

-O-
Travelling through the oddly shaped cavern, I felt a certain elation building in my core. Some echo of the divine purpose that suffused my being when I served as His herald. I could feel Him here, all around me - I walked through his tomb. My face twisted with uncertain emotion, but my eye stared straight ahead. There was nothing to say, no obeisance to make. No one to hear, anyhow. Perhaps I was simply paying my respects.

(I didn’t think so.)

-O-
The next chamber I entered made my limbs retract in reflexive fear, and worse I couldn’t say why, until I saw it.

Water, deep in the heart of the Last Gamble. The blood of L’RN in the very tomb of my God! I threw my head back in a rage, raw power shooting forth and tearing the air with furious sparks. I slashed at the pond of hated Water, shouting and shaking with rage until spittle flew forth from my lips and I had to sink to the ground, exhausted. I glared at the Water (at my reflection) and drew forth the energy for another tirade - then stopped short, and really looked.

I knew it at once. A relic of my God. A phylactery of his power, down below. I fancied I could reach it, if I stretched. I dared not use my Blade for fear of damaging it, but I shuddered at the Curse. Dare I take it?

• 1A Grasp It!
  Of course I dare! How could I live with myself if I left now? drat the Curse, L’RN is no match for a heart full of Amyhdahl! I WILL claim my inheritance!
  
• 2B Hook It!
  I fear the Curse, but I am no mindless beast - and I have the finest tool in my hands. I will reshape the Godblade slightly with Glass Shaping to dull it and hook the relic out of the Water. I am not certain how the Blade will be affected, but surely the relic is worth dozens of Blades. Hundreds!
  
• 2C Cut It!
  ...No. Enough of this. He dares to wrench me from misery, force me into service again from beyond the grave!? With His very Blade, I will end his hold on me, on this land! I have no idea what will occur if I attempt this sacrilege, but I care not.
  
• 2D Leave It!
  ...No. Enough of this. He is dead, but I am alive. I will leave my Blade here in His tomb, and I will seek my People. Perhaps I will bring them here and we will pay our rememberances. Or perhaps I’ll tell them to forget, and then I’ll tell myself.

• 2A Consume Them!
  After I deal with the relic, I will hunt them down and steal back the fragments of my God’s remant power! I am not certain if I deserve them, but I AM certain that THEY do not!
  
• 2B End Them!
  After I deal with the relic, I will destroy them, but close myself to the power that animates them - I do not know what dire contamination it might bring! No power is worth such risk.
  
• 2C Ignore Them!
  The relic is all - I will focus my attention on it to the exclusion of the Anomalice. However I deal with the relic, this will be much faster!
  
• 2D Command Them!
  They wear the skin of my People - perhaps they bear the hearts of my People as well! They are broken and fiendish, but then so am I! I will order them to stand down and follow me!

Successful Businessmanga fucked around with this message at 13:31 on Apr 18, 2016

• Illarin, God of Flowing Water - Artifact Knowledge, Transference, Fountain
  
• Ashar Ado, God of Joy - Miracle Chaotic, Universal, Bliss
  
• Catmandu, Goddess of Cattes - Miracle ? ? ?
  
• Sullo, God of Weight - Idol Balance, Community, Defense

The Anomalice surround me, seeking to stop me from taking the relic. I laugh madly at their foolishness - too slow! Did you think I would stop now, here!? At the very threshold of my redemption!? I call them forward, spittle flying from my cracked and broken lips, and they come. I throw my Blade at them roughly, cutting the nearest two in half, then dive.

Agony! Pain beyond measure! I feel myself come apart in the madblood of L’RN and lose what little remains of my SAnITy but I can ALMOST reach it I dive deeper and stretch BUT MY ARM my BLASTED ARM decides to betray me so I tear it off and kick deeper and my eye is going blind and the world is black and white and I touch it and

-O-
I rise from the Water, moving by Will alone - this body is insufficient and will need to be repaired. The Water boils away as it touches me even as it tears at me, but I ignore it and climb as though on solid steps until I again reach the surface. The cavern is bright as midday to my eyes, and I see it as though it is new and fresh. Walls of dicestone and milkstone in chaotic layers - but Glass, too, fragments of it sandwiched between the stone. I touch the floor, pulling Glass up as though stretching taffy. I repair myself in patchwork fashion - enough for my purposes.

An impact jostles me, tears free another limb. The Anomalice, still after me. Don’t they understand? I turn the weight of my gaze on one, all the terrible power coursing through me and I tell it to

and it does. All of them do. I see them, too, as though they are new and fresh. They are my People! See, that one there is Jack! And there’s Bones! My family, returned to me. I break into a laugh, and they all laugh as well. The Tomb reverberates with our chuckles until the laughter dies out abruptly at a motion from my hand. I feel Him beating in my chest. I understand, now, what my God meant, why I’m here.

• A To Build!
  The Tomb isn’t a tomb at all - it’s a ‘Fortress’! Look, there - the sharp angle of that wall, the way the Glass follows the contours. I see it so clearly in my mind. The Anomalice and I will build this Fortress, even if it takes an Age, and my People will have an unassailable home - safe from the Demons of this world.
  
• B To Dig!
  He drew me down here to find the relic, but there is more to find! I’m sure of it! I’ll keep looking, and I’ll find other relics of my god, all the fragments of his corpse, and reassemble him! He wants to be returned, and I am the instrument of His resurrection. I will be his hands in this world, and the Anomalice my fingers. We will bring him back to us!
  
• C To Conquer!
  He brought me here for power, and I have found it! I will gather my army in this Tomb and pour out onto the land above, and none shall stand before us. The world will know the will of Amyhdahl!
  
• D To Bury!
  He has drawn me here to find the last fragment of his corporeal form, sunk deep below the taint of his Great Enemy. Having recovered it, I will return it to my People, and we’ll make an end to Him. The Fortugnat shall honour Him always, but it is time to move on. I will live among my People until they have no need of me, and then I will join my God.

Waci fucked around with this message at 21:27 on Apr 19, 2016