Story Primer - The Dread of Almeana
>A bit of writing. Feedback deeply desired<
The Origins of the Signs - The Return of the Island - She Comes
The Coming of Alea’Kurana - The Door and the Key, Guardian Mistress of Gateways, Abyssal Being
She is one of the patron deities of the city-nation of Almeana, and the fountain source of Blood Magic. The forbidden island. Ancient beings of antecedence, the patron deities of Almeana stood watch before the birthing of the primordials, beyond all time and existence. They stood side and shoulder with the Void Forces: Chaos, Order, Creation, and Destruction. The Void Forces and the Ancient Ones were the first, and the oldest, and the greatest. Of these Ancient were Kar’Syss, The Storm God of the Dawn, Abyssal Scion of Light. Shel’Hathrain, The Eternal Goddess of Death, Abyssal Scion of Darkness. Feth’Jynsal, The Withering God of Ruin, Abyssal Scion of Entropy. Finally, Alea’Kurana, The Endless Serpent Goddess, Abyssal Scion of Power.
While the Void Forces sought to spread their power, and bring lesser beings to bear, the Ancients saw fit to hide beyond the scope of eternity, deeper than the abyss of nothingness; they had stood watch in contentment to exist as they were. They were the foci of perfect balance, just as the Voids had been. No single entity greater than another, each balancing their opposite. But, as the Void Forces brought into being the Primordials, and from the Primordials came the Titans, and from the Titans came Gods and Goddesses, the Abyssals began to take greater notice. The balances of existence were beginning to tip.
The Titans battled the Primordials who had sculpted them. The Gods battled the Titans who had birthed them; and all throughout, Creation’s gift of life was trodden and trampled time and time again. There were no guardians, no safeguards, only ruin in the wake of these unstoppable tantruming children. The Abyssals heard the call of mortals, pleading for protection from their rampaging deities. Mortals, who without the hand of any greater force, had come into being upon the realms brought to bear by the powers of the Void.
Only then did the Abyssals hear, and listen. From the place beyond places, they ascended to the greatest of Creation’s inventions, the Earth, and took root. They saw how many Gods had come of the meandering of the Primordials and Titans, how far they had spread, and their sheer numbers. The island nation of Almeana was where the Abyssals landed, a place that had once been part of a great continent shattered by the endless bickering of gods and goddesses. There, they took their hold. Unable to tolerate their very presence, they warped the lands and seas to house their being, and in turn twisted and changed those who lived upon the island. So also, did this change call out, and draw in those who sought a different path than demanded by the unbalances of fickle deities.
Worship had not been their prize, but the Abyssals did not deny these mortals their rituals. In time, those changed and unchanged alike came to revere the Abyss. Teaching and sharing knowledge and ways of beings far above them, entrusting antediluvian secrets and cabalistic magics to their fellow mortals so that a great and terrible city was erected there. No mortal without the secrets and powers gained from the city could look upon it and retain their mind. Some even think that the citizens of Almeana indeed went mad, such was the depth of their dealings with such ancient beings. Libraries were filled floor to ceiling with the knowledge, and the forces brought to live within the borders of the island.
The eldritch teachings of the forbidden began to spread. Coastal lands that bordered the oceans where Almeana lay showed signs of its influence. Those who were taken in by the boldening cults eventually would vanish, ushered to Almeana in some unspeakable method. No ports sailed that direction, nor did any ship leave the island. But, the acolytes came. Their souls, forces of nature and energy even the Void Forces could not have predicted, drawn to the expanse of the chance to explore beyond eternity. The Gods and Goddesses, who bickered and squabbled over their mortal worshippers for control over the mortal souls, began to take notice. Almeana was soon made known; no longer such a secret place.
These deities, wary of the dangers that were posed by these Abyssals, turned their focus for the first time away from their arguing and feuding. They feared what these teachings and powers could mean for their rule over the Earth, for their grip on the power of mortal souls. They truly began to fear when the first abominable creations of the Abyssals came forth. Mortals that were twisted and changed, becoming nightmares and bringers of madness and desire. While the Gods and Goddesses sought to empower themselves, the Abyssals empowered the very mortals that sought them out. Forever altering them in strange, twisted, eldritch manners. These beings became unlike any other above or below the surface of the world, and fostered great powers. Many could even rival the powers of the Primordials themselves. This could no longer continue. The Gods and Goddesses could no longer abide by this threat to their rule.
The first attack against the Abyssals failed. A small force of gods, led by one known as Tlaloc who had taken dominion in the southern hemisphere, brought their wrath against the dread island of Almeana. They locked in battle with the Demons Children of the Abyssals, and were held at bay. The corpulent guardian of the Island, the Great Devourer, was awoken to do battle against the gods. These gods and goddesses, now unable to turn away from the battle lest they be destroyed, fought till the bitter end. Shel’Hathrain and Alea’Kurana turned their attention to this, and swept these gods up. All of eternity felt the cries of their agony as their were stricken from existence, with only Tlaloc left near-death. His shattered form erected at the height of the twisted towers of the mad city, a warning to all others.
The force of all the pantheons came against Almeana. Armies of gods and goddesses charged against this threat. The remaining Primordials, drawn up from their imprisonment, were chained and unleashed against the Island of Nightmares. Titans that still drew breath marched to do battle against this growing terror. And in the oceans and on the shores of Almeana, the greatest battle in all existence was waged. Such was the powers of Almeana, no mortal force could approach. Gods were sundered by the dozens as all of the Island of Dreams was unleashed.
But the numbers were too great, even for the Abyssals. Their Demon Children slain to the last, their followers slaughtered and cast to the four winds. Finally, they were bound. Hundreds of gods and goddesses, nearly all the Titans brought forth, and a Primordial were sacrificed for the power to bind such beings, the blood of immortals ran like rivers to seal the oaths. And thus, the Abyssals were cast from the world in their truest forms. Banished away back to the darkness between universes.
Had only the gods known what they had wrought, they may have acted differently. The Abyssals had predicted that this very day would come. They had prepared for it. They had prepared their legacies for it. Their Island was obliterated, its mad city cast to destruction and its stores of forbidden knowledge seemingly gone forever. But the gods, so focused on their task, had forgotten the mortals. They had forgotten the scores of knowledge that had been cast to the four winds, across the world. Ritualists, cabalists, and the cultists of the nightmare gods seeded into every culture they could reach. The corruption of the Abyss went in secret to the very roots of the world. Deep so that no wandering eye could behold, but not deep enough that the curious and dedicated soul could not find them. The signs were all there, only needing the curiosity of the bold.
Through the centuries, we followers have prepared for our patron’s re-emergence. To open the path for them to return. Too many gods and goddesses have been lost in the first war, the binding could not be accomplished again. They had their chance, and they have failed. Their hubris will be their undoing. The dread powers have begun to inch back, and it is even said that the Abyssals could walk amongst the world again, among mortals, and not be seen. They do, but only those of us with the sight have seen it. I have the sight. I know what I have seen, and know what I must do. My path is clear. So clear.
Woe be those who seek forbidden powers, secrets hidden from the minds that cannot contain them. Woe be those who seek the Dragons of the Abyss, for they shall be consumed. Call upon the Door, Alea’Kurana, for she guards the ways. Harness her gifts of blood and power, call her to bear amongst mortal fare. Know that darkness is more than black; soon the nightmares will be coming back.
Forth, from the Mad City. The place of Dreams. Forth from the Island where knowledge is born. Gone, gone, the chains of fate. From the jaws of mortality we are torn.
The Serpent Goddess Comes. She comes! She comes! She comes! She comes!
-Found scrawled in blood on the walls of a sanitorium cell. The cell had been empty for months when the writings were discovered. Symbols and scrawlings of an unknown language filled the rest of the walls. The orderlies who discovered the scrawlings, as well as four doctors of the sanitorium have all disappeared. Room cordoned off. Send report to headquarters.-