| *I gaze upwards and see nothing but an empty void*
And so we entered the Abyss. A mass of contradictions. Cold but at the same time hot. Arid but at the same time wet. It is not how I remember it.
This is my third time in the Abyss. Twice before I have been here. But on those occasions it was my astral body that travelled here. I had a specific destination, pulled there once by Lloth herself and once by the thing I seek now. Lloth sent me back safely. I never got to see the thing that torments me. By good fortune and Lloth?s benevolence, Faeryl pulled my astral body from the brink just in time. This time I am here physically and nor am I alone.
Now that we are here, I realise the shear folly of entering. How we are to return is the least of our worries, since where we entered no longer exists. What surrounds us, at first looked like a vast plane of emptiness, but as our eyes adjusted to the extreme darkness, details began to emerge. Had I not been holding SD?s hand, I would have sworn I was alone. But gradually, as my eyes adjusted, the beautiful and brave drow that is my soulmate slowly, which I can only describe as solidified, appeared at my side. I looked into her eyes and for the first time I saw fear in them. If she sought reassurance in mine, then I had failed her for I felt the same fear.
We drew our piwafwi tightly around us as we tried to take in our surroundings. Tried to make sense of it all. I looked around. In every direction, the plane on which we stood stretched out infinitely, flat and completely featureless. Then other details emerged. Scattered intermittently in every direction stood portals. Not the blue or red portals seen frequently on the surface, but vast black doors. We stood looking around for how long I could not measure. Time just seems not to exist here. I looked once again into SD?s eyes and for the first time ever in my life, I said sorry.
More time passed. Was it seconds or was it days, I have no idea. Then we noticed vast numbers of ethereal bodies floating all around us, passing through us as if we did not exist. Only the firm fearful grip I had of SD?s hand assured me that we did. These spirits seemed drawn to the black doors. Many seemed to float around aimlessly searching for a particular door. Then it dawned on me what was happening. These ethereal bodies were in fact the souls of the dead. They floated around searching for the correct door, the one that took them to their deity. There they would appear before it to be either doomed for all eternity or glorified as one of the chosen.
Where we go from here I have no idea. I came to confront what torments me, but the calling voice has gone. Whatever it is, lies beyond one of these countless portals. Oh the folly of what I have done! I look once again at SD, I feel a wetness in my eyes. A sensation I cannot comprehend. "Forgive me" I whisper, but she does not hear me, she is looking beyond me with wide fearful eyes???..
I watch, I assess, I report.
Vel'drav l' sil'in qu'ellar d'Hun?ett zotrethen??Jal zhal sha-rasa!!!
Lloth tlu laoles, dosst handmaiden orn naut hojh dos!!!! |