Simon sailed the Zailiens slowly and cautiously over the skies of Ad Limosa. Dianna looked down, and through the morning haze was able to perceive the numerous crowds of people below, their attention briefly drawn away from the devastation at their docks skywards towards this arcane machine that flew overhead. The great machine awed the citizens as it steadily crossed the entire city, slowing to a hover above the spiraling whirlpool. Gently, he descended to an altitude of around a hundred feet above it.
Almost instantly, the waves grew quiet as the serpent slowed its movements. An echoing voice boomed out from beneath the sea:
"Y-You..." it growled, "What is this? By whose virtue does Our Ark again sail?"
Simon nearly began to speak, before realizing he was within a machine that probably didn't transmit sound to the outside.
"Cetus?" Simon asked.
"A question?" Cetus replied.
"Yeah, does this thing have a way of communicating with the outside?"
"Indeed," Cetus replied as a strange apparatus descended from directly above Simon. "Please speak into this microphone."
"Micro-what?" Lawrence asked indignantly.
"Microphone. Noun. An instrument for converting sound waves into-"
"Nevermind," Lawrence interrupted.
"Excuse me?" Simon spoke into the apparatus.
"A voice," the mysterious voice from beneath the waves boomed. "Identify yourself. Whom do you serve?"
"I am-" Simon began
"Make him identify himself first!" Dianna whisper-shouted as she grabbed ahold of Simon's shoulder.
"Good idea," Simon whispered to her. "You first," he spoke into the microphone.
"...You think to make demands of a being as supreme as I?" the voice echoed indignantly, but as it did an edge of fear crept into its voice. "No... I cannot say for sure that you are not above me. I am Dagon, Praetor the Second, the Lord of All Undersea and the King of all that is Marine."
Intelligence Check: 70
Simon, Mina, Lawrence and Dianna all fail.
The four looked at each other and shrugged. For all this creature's grandeur, they'd never heard of him before. But the way he'd spoken was not that of a liar, or one who was elevating themselves to a title they did not deserve. Truly, from the bottom of this creature's heart, it knew it was all that it claimed to be.
"I have done my part..." the voice echoed out. "Now it is your turn."
Simon gulped fearfully. "Simon Cathryll. Former baron of Lindenmeyer Province, and heir-apparent to the throne of the Rhias Dominion."
There was a long pause.
"Is that all true?" Lawrence asked, awestruck.
Dagon laughed. A deep, horrifying, guttural laugh, that was slow and intimidating as all evil laughs are. "A former baron? An heir to one of your pitiful mortal thrones? I had no reason to be concerned, none at all!" Dagon laughed again. "The relief I feel has put me in a good mood. You will relinquish ownership of Our Ark to me, promptly."
"Uh... no?" Simon said.
"Yeah, what the hell can a fish do to a bird?" Lawrence mocked. Luckily for them, his voice did not register into the apparatus.
"No?" Dagon shouted furiously. "And by what grace do you believe yourself above the edict of a Praetor?"
"Well..." Simon said smugly into the microphone, glancing back at Lawrence, "what exactly can you do? You're down there, and we're up here." Simon glanced back at Lawrence and gave him a thumbs up, and Lawrence flashed a thumbs up back.
"What exactly can I do? What can I do?" The waves below trembled, and beneath the surface of the water the four could see the silhouette of a serpent thrashing about in anger. "I am Praetor Dagon! You are mortals! To serve me is an honor! I am above you by infinitudes so vast, that to call you ants beneath mortal feet would be an honor! You are-"
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
"This guy loves to hear himself talk, doesn't he?" Lawrence mocked as Dagon continued his tirade. The other three snickered at Dagon's impotent display.
"I am Dagon! For aeons I have lived, and for aeons I will outlive you! The oceans bow to me, as do all that dwell within! I am-"
"You still haven't done anything to us, though," Simon laughed. "If you could do something, you would've, by now."
"YOU PATHETIC, VIRTUELESS, WORTHLESS, DISGUSTING MORTAL! I WILL SKIN YOU ALIVE, AND FEED YOUR INNARDS TO THE BOTTOM-FEEDERS! I WILL-"
The four laughed, Simon's laughter audible through the microphone, as Dagon continued his graceless display.
"I AM DAGON! BY WHAT VIRTUE DO YOU THINK YOURSELF ABOVE ME!? BY WHAT VIRTUE DO YOU OCCUPY OUR ARK?! BY WHAT..." Dagon grew silent, and the laughter of the four died down. "Ahah... yes..." Dagon chuckled to himself. "But of course. An obvious solution, one that could only be conjured by the brilliant mind of Dagon."
Dagon casts Destination: Macrofauna Breeding Pool
Simon's eyes darted to the center of the room as he heard the deafening roar of water. At the heart of the room, a bubbling geyser of water was churning, and then with a sudden surge the geyser erupted. The room filled with water, in a way that the four were unfortunately not unfamiliar with. Once the room was fully submerged, the water faded into a translucent light, before giving way to a new environment. The four found themselves standing on the rim of a massive tidepool, a ring-shaped outcropping of porous rock, that stood alone amid a vast sea of rolling waves. Within the ring, a tranquil pool of seawater nearly a mile in diameter- far larger than the room they were previously standing in- played host to a number of small and large forms of oceanic life.
"What the-" Lawrence's eyes darted around. To his surprise, despite the room filling with water, they were now breathing air. "Not this shit again..."
"At least we're not drowning this time," Mina chuckled. "And where's the fish?"
"That's what I'm worried about," Simon nodded. "He was super pissed before, but he got really calm before he cast whatever spell this is. Like he was planning something."
"And planning I was," Dagon's voice echoed. With a violent tremor, a great figure surged upwards from the center of the pool. The four shielded themselves from the downpour of water displaced by the monster, which now stood imposing at the heart of the tidepool.
It was a vast sea serpent, that towered nearly thirty feet into the air, with enough of its body still below the water to keep itself anchored. But Dagon was not content with this form. The serpent's head pointed straight up, and split down the sides of the mouth. Two massive crab claws rose from the jaws of the serpent, whose body began to limply fall away like a snake's skin. The serpent's mouth widened further, and from the serpent's body a new figure emerged. The head of an anglerfish, situated at the neck of a crab's body, the crab shell arranged vertically as though it were the torso of a man. Attached to the crab's body was a pair of crab claws, as well as six more crab lags that scraped against each other menacingly. At the bottom of the crab's body, eight massive tentacles extended outwards, completing the vaguely humanoid body of Dagon's true form.
"Long has it been since I have indulged a mortal with my divine opulence," Dagon chuckled to himself. "Gaze in awe, mortals,"
"Awe?" Simon mocked. "More like disgust."
"Yeah, you're nasty as all hell," Lawrence laughed.
Two giant lobsters appeared on either side of Lawrence and Simon, and immediately grabbed the both of them by their arms and legs, and began to pull them apart. Lawrence did his best to remain stoic, while Simon screamed in pain.
"You forget yourselves, mortals," Dagon shook his enormous head. "You exist now within my perfect kingdom. You are subject to my whims, as all mortals deserve to be."
"Is he seriously still yapping?" Lawrence groaned between grunts of pain.
Dagon waved one of his crab legs, and the lobster that grabbed Lawrence pulled him even harder. Something in his body cracked.
"Ohh, that hit the spot," Lawrence laughed painfully.
"Allow me to explain what will be happening now," Dagon turned his gaze to the other two. "You four will all die, and then I will take Our Ark for myself. That simple."
"Another empty threat?" Dianna laughed nervously. "Don't bother."
"What is even so important about this ship?" Mina pleaded. "We could give it to you if it means that much!"
"That would be acceptable... were it not for your repeated insults against my numerous virtues." Dagon laughed. "Oblivion will teach you better than to insult a Praetor." Dagon's gaze shifted, and he scrutinized the two women, then turned to scrutinize the two men that were being stretched thin. "Ah..." he said at last, "but it would seem that would not be the only reason..."
"And why might that be?" Dianna asked accusatively.
"It would seem fate, or perhaps that heinous Unseen Hand, has brought you four into the path of Our Ark. I should not be surprised." Dagon made another gesture with his claws, and the lobsters ceased their pulling- but did not release Simon and Lawrence.
Dagon turned his gaze towards Simon first. From within Simon's body, a burning blue flame erupted. "A body of no renown, but a soul far greater than the shell that houses it- the seed of a hero. Should it be left unchecked, another despicable Braemon may come to threaten our reign..."
Dagon turned to Lawrence. "A mark- however faint- of the bloodline of Undying Gabriel..." A look of recognition crossed Lawrence's face briefly, as though he'd heard the name before.
Dagon turned to Dianna, and upon her body three crossed lines appeared. "The unmistakable brand of damnation, a sentence to eternal punishment as Heir to the Black Throne."
And finally, Dagon turned to Mina. On her scalp, a strange symbol none of them had ever seen before appeared. "And most despicable of all, one who would dare consort with the Ancient Enemy. Most vile and treacherous, of all sins that can be commit by man and beast, does such heresy earn thee the rite of Grievance Absolute..."
And then, Dagon pulled up and away from the four of them, their respective markings disappearing. "My virtue and grace shall soar as I offer the heads of four blasphemers alongside Our Ark to my fellow Praetors... a new era under the reign of Dagon will begin!"
A great tremor shook the tidepool's space, and both the four heroes and Dagon seemed confused as to what caused it. But Dagon, in his elation, paid it no mind.