The deep ones come from the sea, vile, cold, and covered in scales. They dwell near the Gate of R'yleh, as if the minions of the God Cthulhu. Perhaps the All Mother gifted them? Regardless, tools of madness is what they have become. The most devious are the sisters of the deep that prey on man with their siren call, a call that can be heard in the night while out at sea.

Excerpt: Progeny of the All Mother

By HPL

Gideon grabbed a few uniforms to take back to his room. He shut the door for a little privacy, he needed to decompress. He had been surrounded by people for today and was approaching his social limit. After all the noise and chaos of the day, he found his room peaceful, he could finally think. It’s so quiet in here. I don’t see any water, where am I supposed to wash? I always went to the sea and bathed. He looked out the window down toward the loch below. It isn’t too far away. He saw motion below, it was the same boy, shackled in the same way as before. Gideon watched them walk down to the loch. At this distance he couldn’t make out much detail. He could see the group had stopped on the beach. I wonder what they are doing down there, and why is he shackled again. The professor mentioned it was for our safety, what could be so bad about the boy? Do they really need to protect the entire academy from him?

A knock sounded on the door. “It’s open,” Gideon said.

“Hey it’s me Silas.” Silas stepped into the room. “This is a little embarrassing and a bit of an oversight on my part, but I just remembered that you were a scamp. You didn’t exactly have luxuries like running water on the streets in the lower districts did you? The bathhouse here has running water and showers. You just need to use the magitek crystal to activate the water. You’ll find them on the other side of the common room. There are two rules concerning the showers. First, it is paramount that you remember to deactivate the crystal so we don’t flood our guild house. If that happens, I can assure you that you will be the one cleaning it up and fighting the mold all year. Understood?” Gideon nodded that he did indeed understand. “Second, it’s a communal bathhouse with individual cells for privacy. Please knock before you enter. Make sure the cell is empty, or that the person inside is welcoming to you joining them. Invasive incidents are not tolerated and will be punished harshly. I hope you don’t feel targeted, it’s nothing personal, because everyone is going to hear this. You happen to need a little more assistance than the others, so I thought I would kill two birds with one stone. Now go grab a uniform and get cleaned up.”

“Thanks Silas, I really appreciate the extra help and advice. That could have been bad, and even a little embarrassing. Oh and thank you for stepping up to be part of our mentor team,” Gideon said as he held out his hand.

Silas grasped his forearm in greeting, his grip was strong. “Ha, I’ll do my best, but remember this isn’t a volunteer gig. If you don’t wash out, you’ll be volunteered next year. I’m paying it forward. I had a great mentor tank and I hope to be the same for you. Then you can pay it forward after my time is done. I think it is best this way because second year students still remember what it was like being a freshman. If the teams in the previous year wash out, then the freshmen are in for a tough year. They will get elder mentors that really don’t have time for the freshmen because of their advanced studies. That’s never good. It holds back the elder class-men, and puts the freshmen of that class at a much higher risk of washing out.”

Gideon nodded at this. “I can see that getting bad and cascading through the years. If someone doesn’t have the time or even want to mentor you, wouldn’t it makes sense to get someone else?” Gideon watched Silas, the boy appeared to want to comment further, but chose not to. Gideon took that as a sign to move on. “Okay, I appreciate everything, but I better get ready, so thanks again.” Silas nodded to Gideon and left the room without further commenting.

I wonder what it was he didn’t want to say? This place really puts the pressure on you from day one, he couldn’t imagine that pressure Silas felt. I hope I can live up to the expectations, he thought. Captain Daniels sacrificed so much for him to be here. He came here thinking he would become one of the most powerful adventurers, but after this morning, he just hoped he was ready. I will do my best to keep up with the others. Gideon’s thoughts were not helping his mood. The pressure was on. He grabbed his uniform and headed for the showers. He walked into the shower area and looked around. There was a long platform with several basins along its length, on the wall above there was a large mirror that ran down the length of the basin as well. He could hear water splashing on the floor from more than one of the cells. The cell on the end sounded silent, so he went that direction. He knocked as instructed. After there was no answer he tried again. “Hello, is anyone in there? Is this one open?”

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A voiced spoke to him from behind. “Oh, I don’t know about that one, but I’m done with this one if you would like to use it.” Gage stood before him, her brown hair wet and dripping. She was wrapped in nothing but a towel and was using a second towel to dab her hair dry. Gideon absently stared at first, stunned by the girl standing before him. He shifted his eyes, trying to find anywhere else to look. “Ah, how sweet. Such a gentleman. You’ll do well in this house. Dunwich is a stickler for good character.” The girl quietly giggled at Gideon’s obvious discomfort.

“Thank you Gage. I’ll try to represent the house well.” She stood there practically naked, relaxed without a care in the world. She was so normal in the moment, there appeared to be nothing unusual happening as far as she was concerned. Gideon’s opinion of her went up just a little bit more, her casual demeanor allowed him to relax, to be comfortable in her presence. In the lower districts, survival was key. Dating didn’t rate high on the survival list. Raya was the only person he ever viewed in that way. He had put her on an unobtainable pedestal. Was that to make dating an unobtainable concept? Did I subconsciously sabotage my social life for some reason? He was lost in his own thoughts so he didn’t notice when Gage moved in to get closer, didn’t have time to step away. She stood on her toes and leaned in to lightly kiss his cheek.

“Gage, would you leave that boy alone,” Ellison said. She wore a tank top that left the ebony skin of her shoulders exposed. She was at the basins looking in the mirror, watching the two of them behind her. Her hair was out of the braid and she was brushing it slowly. “Everyone knows your a flirt. It’s the first day. Don’t be breaking his heart already.” Gage chuckled sweetly and left the communal bath.

“Thanks maybe, I think.” Gideon said with more than a hint of confusion. For the first time he saw Ellison’s outer shell crack a little, the hard woman let out a full belly laugh.

“Maybe? Gage is a sweet thing and as beautiful as all can be. But she is flighty like a butterfly and hard to catch. I’d imagine the one that catches her will think it was well worth the chase.” Ellison advised him. Gideon watched her as she braided her hair again as they talked. “You better get in there and get a shower.” She turned toward the cell on the end. “Primrose, get your nose out of my business and get dressed!”

“Yes Elli,” Primrose said from the other end of the bathhouse.

“Poor silly girl,” Ellison whispered. She looked back at Gideon. “You’re going to be trouble this year aren’t you. Now go get showered.”

Gideon closed the curtain behind him as he entered the shower cell. I wonder what’s wrong with Prim? She didn’t mention any issues earlier in my room, he thought. Maybe something happened since then and he missed it? Or maybe she is upset about the corner room? He activated the crystal as he thought through his problems, the warm water began to flow. It was in that moment that showers and running water became one of his favorite things in the world. They must be artifacts from the past, blessings from the Old Ones. The warm water washed away the dirt and grime of the day, at the same time it massaged away his tension. He stood in the stream, the memory of the pains of the day came back to him. He thought of the battle at the market and then at the entrance trial. He hadn’t performed especially well anywhere, but he was learning. The system was slowly teaching him more every day. He was starting to understand it. I can’t wait until the AIM is ready. It sounds like it will be a lot of help. This thought he could understand, improving yourself made sense, it was natural.

His mind shifted to thoughts he didn’t comprehend nearly as well. Professor Dunwich and her enormous power. She had shattered his ability like glass. How strong was she? Will everyone be able to break my armor and shield abilities like she did? As he thought it over more, he came to terms with the fact that Dunwich was on a different tier than him. He would catch up to her someday, but not anytime soon.

I need to focus on things I can control, things I can effect now. He shifted his thoughts to Primrose. What’s going on with her, we hit it off from the start, but then things got weird. I wonder if Maximus might have something to do with that? He saw the attraction the two had, but he wasn’t sure that Primrose did or not. Maximus was very obvious with his infatuation, but Primrose was less so. She seemed to have many interests.

Then there was Gage. The girl was confusing to him, his emotions were complicated. His thoughts raced to so many possibilities concerning Gage. Am I drawn to her because she saved me, healed me even? Does she like me or is that all just flirting like Ellison said? Does she think I’m someone that needs saving, a charity scamp? He felt like he was over thinking things, making life more complicated than it had to be. He didn’t want to be viewed as weak, someone that needs saved. He intended to succeed in the academy, to be a graduate. He wouldn’t be a charity case for anyone. With Gage no longer around he found himself able to focus on all the problems from today. She was an issue to be dealt with later. He was so lost in these new problems, it wouldn’t be until much later he’d realize he had forgotten all about Raya.