--- E L – D R I T C H ---
In the depths of the ancient ruins, a Spanish-speaking eldritch power known only as EL-DRITCH had been trapped for decades in the timeline of Earth and for over six hundred years on the world it had been kidnapped from. Its malevolent energy pulsated with a hunger for freedom. It yearned to break free from its prison and enter the mortal realm once more.
It had been the first ringmaster, the first to bring real power and organisation to the world of circus. But when it became to powerful and was able to find out the many secrets by the veils of reality. It was thwarted by the gods themselves. And punished by being trapped forever in the void between time and space.
Though it had been only been decades on Earth, within the void it had been an eternity. Which was a torment but also a prize.
It had given the eternity eons to attempt an escape. Eventually through trial and error it had managed to connect to the strongest karmic bonds it could find – its son, Jack.
When he became a ringmaster it was able to find its way into his ring. The ring is a space were ringmaster propagate and bring life to their own circus. Jack’s was in its infancy, no performers, no musicians nothing only tents flapping in the wind.
El-DRITCH injected all his unholy power and wrath into the place and made it his own. Waiting patiently for the arrival of Jack. Which was but an eye blink compared to his wearisome trek through the void.
The boy was easy to manipulate and he found the world of circus to already be in disarray. Imploding under its own weight of misconceptions. No doubt a plot of the hennas gods themselves.
It sensed the presence of a hapless noob ringmaster magician, a mere mortal with untapped potential for manipulation. EL-DRITCH saw an opportunity to escape its confines by hijacking the magician's body, using it as a vessel to wreak havoc in the real world. And more importantly seek revenge on the gods.
For the plan it had in mind it would potential harm his son, Jack. He would need to be a conduit for the power EL-DRITCH planned to unleash on his unsuspecting prey. But if he did die which was highly lightly. What kind of unascended being could contain such godlike powers without being turned into so much space dust? It was unfortunate perhaps but he had tried so many other options and they had all failed. This was his best or maybe only chance and he would take it.
EL-DRITCH found everything child’s play back on Earth as he controlled Jack from the sidelines with the help of the Hat Network he had been the originator of. A Network which allowed him to stay in control of every living magician in the circus.
He had planned to create similar equipment for all performers but had had to travel to another realm to try and rescue his wife who had been captured by the gods. She was held there to blackmail him into leaving earth and travelling to another realm.
There he was involved in many wars, plots and skirmishes but was beaten back by the gods at every turn. In the end they captured him and tried to break his mind. When they failed they locked him away in the void as an example to others who might reject the gods.
EL-DRITCH tested out his plans that had only before been theories on how to use a life form as a giant planet sized battery, to store enough energy to challenge the gods might.
But only the second day after EL-DRITCH had taken control. And had started absorbing power through Jack. He found as he attempted to take control, that it was thwarted by meddling magicians who sought to trap it once again. Though it was incandescent with rage they performed an ancient ritual, binding the eldritch power and preventing its escape from its chosen vessel.
EL-DRITCH now actually afraid for once used his finite energy resources to control the magicians to stop them before they went any further. Then using Jack’s soul as a veil descended into the other realm where a willing vessel awaited.
He had not been unaware of the god’s intentions and had created a suitable vessel for just this situation. His perfectly created battery that he had had to leave behind in the realm of his wife.
Frustrated and enraged, EL-DRITCH unleashed what little power remained within it, manipulating the minds of the magicians who dared to oppose it. With their wills bent to its command, EL-DRITCH opened a portal to the other realm, a dark and twisted dimension where it could grow in strength and unleash its full fury. A dimension where the gods lackeys held sway and all other magical creatures had been killed or were in eternal servitude.
Yet, the eldritch power knew that in order to fully materialize in this new realm, it needed the soul of its present container. The ringmaster magician, unaware of the dark forces that now controlled his body, felt himself being consumed from within as EL-DRITCH feasted on his very essence.
So it created more memories for its host, Jack this time of the life of another that he would call Michael. He would give him the ultimate motivation to better control his emotions. He would be doing all to save his own wife’s life. In his mind that is.
All was in place, and after a few tests of his and Jack’s new body all previous plans would be set in motion. All his plans would come to fruition.
And the world of the gods, would fall.
He knew this without a doubt, as the tales of his coming were already written and the prophecy given, six hundred years and more prior.
Finders, Keepers, Losers, Weepers
For millennia, the elemental creatures of the lands were tamed. No longer allowed to ravage the lands unchecked. Their domains were broken and they became instead leashed using arcane scripts and soul contracts to dungeon cores.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
However humans found that even dungeons could potentially pose a threat when they became too large or unruly. So the elementals were further enslaved in towers where the soul contracts allowed for no expansion and no free will.
A new power arose on the continent the Holy Alliance, a group not beholden to elemental powers but relying on faith magic alone.
They decreed that all towers should be broken and the six elemental realms should be destroyed.
And so started the war, now known as the weeping, where the alliance of Holy territories defeated and laid waste to the six elemental realms of light, dark, fire, water, earth and wind. The power of these lands was not seized but fractured. Causing all those reliant on the realms to become powerless.
However, eventually a force rose up to rival the Holy Alliance – the Augamantine Empire. Somehow the arcane scientists of the Augamantine Empire managed to again harness the elemental powers of the six realms.
Now a new war ensues between the Holy territories and Augamantine Empire.
The quest for power is limitless, the quest for immortality a dream.
Centuries past, humans summoned beasts to tie them to the sources of power – a reckless tyrant’s scheme
Yet with this act of treachery we cut our ties to the races both elemental and fair,
Sundering the towers and dungeons and laying the fertile ground bare.
Though who will truly weep as the power gained topples empires and turns our very lands to ash?
What folly, oh man have you brought upon us all? To act in manner so rash.
Only the most powerful of finder can find redemption with his might
and breath again the light of prismatic affinity into each beasts wayward sight
Without sullying or tarnishing his honour and doing only what is right
he will sever the bonds between gods and mortals and at last free us from our plight.
* Elliandra , Golden Oracle to the Royal court of the Auguamantine Empire, year of weeping 625
This was of course to ensure that nobody would judge the authenticity of his claim unfair or unjust. But that every one would see him as the ascended kings and kneel before him as one.
He would also need to break the psychic and karmic bonds between himself and his wife. She would no nothing of his true plans. Which EL-DRITCH, thought quite amusing as she was the oracle herself.
--- J A C K ---
Jack has a fundamental overhaul as his memories are wiped, tossed in a leafy salad concoction, placed on a low heat to simmer then completely reshaped. Until he is no longer Jack at all. Only if he can break this mind control by himself or the hand of another can he retain his old memories and self.
And so Jack now Michael find himself back in London on a rainy day. Not much of a change there, but the rest is history as they say.
Michael was making his way home. It might not seem like much but it was a sanctuary for him when he needed one. And though to some it might have seemed a bit sterile he liked the simplicity of a no thrills open plan apartment. His sound system, old albums and computer taking up nearly all of the space. Just having finished a deadline he was heading back home, at 6am. When everyone else seemed to be just waking up. He liked that though. Being out of the rat race that was the morning commute.
He knew in his heart of hearts he was just going through the motions still with everything right now. But what could he do? You don’t get to choose what hand life deals you. Just which cards you’re going to play next. His wife and co-researcher Ellie had passed away 2 years ago to that day.
They had been both working passionately on nth dimensional geometry and neural networks based systems - AI.
On occasions like today, he wished he was some nth dimensional being and could just punch his way through time. Unfortunately thoughts such as these only brought back lyrics to a song that stuck in his head “if I could turn back time…” which was painful in the extreme. Unfortunately, the opposite seemed to have happened instead as much of his life seemed to have been put on hold. Like some kind of stasis field was placed over everything.
Today was her departure from this world’s anniversary and he intended to mark the occasion in some small way.
He stood now at a crossing, in the pelting rain, holding a takeout from the local deli, her favourite. When in the middle of his reverie, waiting on the lights, he saw something possibly a trick of the light that caused him to step out onto the crossing. Momentarily stunned. It was the semi-transparent face of his wife, Ellie, smiling, in that way she did.
He was hit by the on coming red 91 bus and the world around him disappeared like the bad dream that it was.
So this is it? Well at least he got to see her one more time he thought smiling to himself.
---
There were some highly commendable cinematic-s, some very bright golden concentric circular halos, that Michael thought wouldn’t look to shabby as a cut-scene in one of his favourite games.
Then a message of gold on a blue background hovered before Michael’s bleary eyes
No pain? Ok maybe that Bus was going way faster than he’d thought and had smashed him straight into? Wherever he was.
[Do you wish to form a contract with Dungeon Core?]
For reals? Well if that’s what’s on offer I’m hardly going to turn it down but the subterranean life isn’t really me. I know how working lates all the time turns me into a zombie. Thought a very spaced out Michael.
All of sudden Michael felt like he’d just been given some serious medication making him feel very high indeed. Was he in hospital? Or was this what happened when you died? He realised he was having an out of body, no scratch that mind experience as new memories started to flood into him like a movie on fast forward. Was he Neo in matrix one now? He hoped not unless he got to be in the sequel too, that was way cooler he felt.
Once it was almost over, things started to get back to normal speed and Michael couldn’t help but laugh to himself as he saw a certain someone in John’s memories or rather a certain two people. One being someone bearing an unmistakable resemblance to his dearly, possibly not so departed wife, Elli those unimaginatively called Elliandra here. Was this supposed to be a parallel universe or some such? it was initially hard to tell. He would have to wait until the ads were over he guessed or the tutorial or whatever.
More intriguing to Michael though was some of the ‘arcane script’ as it was called that bore a stark resemblance to something he and his wife had been working on – nth dimensional shapes.
This new reality didn’t seem to have a stats screen or anything as yet. Are well just work with what you’ve got Michael or John or whoever you are right now? For some reason he felt Jack would be a better name altogether and possibly save with his confusion. But that seemed even more non sensical.
Not only receiving the memories of John but also the emotional connections made Michael feel stretched again in mind distorting ways. It was like a bad episode of black mirror. He felt excitement at having what seemed like the daughter he had never had, Sal was her name. Though he felt there first meeting would be marred by, the death of her only brother and her reaction to the person now in his body. Which was less than ideal.
Next there was his possible wife or parallel universe version, who was with another guy? Though the other guy seemed a replica of himself. Whatever… he’d find out if and when he met him he guessed.
All rather weird for sure, so many coincidences made it seem like it could all be a dream so he opened his eyes to see what this new world had to offer.
And saw…