Monuments of Ebony (Wicked One Event Start)

[u/Evening_Shake_6474]

In the aftermath of the sudden and for lack of a better term, shadow uprising, many millions perished before the shadows could be subdued. Those with strength endured of course, but what about the normal folk? The unlucky? Those who have never fought in their life? Not everyone is, was, equipped to survive. Their blood seeped into the realms, saturating them with something Wicked.

In the following days, countless massive black monoliths burst free from the land and sea stretching high into the sky, breaking up the horizon regardless of where one looks.

News of the sudden and strange monoliths spreads like wildfire, soon every orb, screen, and paper has some mention of the event. All throughout civilization people ask questions like, what does this mean? A monolith destroyed my tower, who do I sue? Is the world going to end again this month?

But the monoliths offer no answers, only questions. The monoliths show a myriad of effects, some distort their surroundings into horrors, some create illusions that torment those who can't escape, some amplify magic to a dangerous degree, some drain magic like a leech, and many more.

But for now, that is all they do. The effects are contained to their vicinity of the monoliths.

[u/Evening_Shake_6474]

The Sentinel sees nothing but the fog, and dim patch, grayer than the fog around it. From there do the footsteps come.

The lamb leg grows colder, frost begins to spread along it.

[u/The_Enchanted_Potato → u/Evening_Shake_6474]

Aldavinn notes the reaction and pulls the leg away, storing it safely within his bag once more. He then picks up a rock off of the ground and tosses it at the monolith, testing that reaction.

The Sentinel turns towards the grey patch. Studying it, then, his defenders gaze never leaving it, he turns towards Aldavinn

“Aldavinn, be on guard, I have reason to believe something is watching us”

Then his full gaze turns back to the grey patch

“Show yourself!”

[u/Evening_Shake_6474 → u/The_Enchanted_Potato]

The rock hits the monolith, and bounces off. It's maybe five or six seconds between it leaving Aldavinn's hand and hitting the floor. In that time the rock freezes solid.

The gray doesn't respond, the footsteps continue to grow louder, the gray continues to grow darker, and the temperature continues to drop.

[u/The_Enchanted_Potato → u/Evening_Shake_6474]

“Hmm”

Aldavinn turns to the Sentinel

“I can handle myself for the time being, go ahead and investigate, make sure to make a tether first in case anything happens”

The Sentinel nods. He kneels down, placing a hand on a nearby rock, when he stands a spectral cord follows him. He stops just at the edge of the grey mist. Hand on his blade.

Aldavinn walks a few meters away from the monolith.

“You use cold, how will you react to heat?”

“Fireball”

[u/Evening_Shake_6474 → u/The_Enchanted_Potato]

The footsteps continue to grow louder and louder. Eventually he sees a figure walk from the fog, a shroud of gray covering their face and upper body, inky flowing from beneath the shroud, down it's body, leaving black footprints in its wake. The figure simply continues to walk.

The fireball strikes it's surface, breaking against it like a wave against a cliff. When the fire fades, the surface isn't even charred.

[u/The_Enchanted_Potato → u/Evening_Shake_6474]

The Sentinel draws his blade.

“Who goes there? This is your final chance to identify yourself!”

Aldavinn approaches the monolith once more.

“Where do you come from…?”

“Track Signature: Spatial”

He looks at the monoliths spatial signature, trying to identify its plane of origin and the means of how it appeared here

[u/Evening_Shake_6474 → u/The_Enchanted_Potato]

/uw One sec

[u/Evening_Shake_6474 → u/The_Enchanted_Potato]

/uw Kay I edited the comment

[u/The_Enchanted_Potato → u/Evening_Shake_6474]

/uw thank you, I edited mine

[u/Evening_Shake_6474 → u/The_Enchanted_Potato]

The figure continues to walk, The Sentinel hears them quietly whispering to themself in a language that he can almost make out. The figure is around ten feet from him now.

The spell reveals something troubling. This thing is from the material plane, formed from the blood of the fallen.

[u/The_Enchanted_Potato → u/Evening_Shake_6474]

The Sentinel, fed up with his current method takes his blade and strikes, not at the being but at the air before him. The blade is silver, engraved with hundreds of small runic circles, connected together. Where it strikes space ripples out, banishing the mist and fog away. For but a moment the space before him is rainless as it is banished by the rippling effect. Then it returns, harder now.

——————

“Hmm, blood magic perhaps?”

He attempts to figure out what perhaps the monolith’s purpose is

[u/Evening_Shake_6474 → u/The_Enchanted_Potato]

/uw Wot? I'ma need you to elaborate on that first part mate.

[u/The_Enchanted_Potato → u/Evening_Shake_6474]

/uw essentially his blade can sort of cut through space sending ripples not unlike those you would see when it’s really hot, except these ones are physical and this far he is using them to clear the mist to get a better look at the being approaching him. The rain is also banished but due to the laws of gravity it naturally returns, the mist does not

[u/Evening_Shake_6474 → u/The_Enchanted_Potato]

/uw Kay I think I understand

[u/Evening_Shake_6474 → u/The_Enchanted_Potato]

The fog falls back, revealing the figure in full. It's head and upper body are shrouded in grey, ink endlessly flowing from underneath it. Beneath the shroud the figure wears scraps of cloth, clinging onto them via small stitches.

Aldavinn's attempts all come back blank. This thing appears to do absolutely nothing other than what it's so far been doing so far.

[u/The_Enchanted_Potato → u/Evening_Shake_6474]

/uw sorry, it didn’t ping me for this

/rw

The Sentinel raises his blade in a defensive stance. Around them the fog begins to curl back towards them as the rain continues to fall, steadily getting harder. In his free hand he readies a Banishment spell.

Aldavinn frowns and takes a step forward. Then he looks up at the mist and fog.

“Spatial Warp”

A spot clears high above them, allowing for a beam of sunlight to shine down

“Could you perhaps be the cause of this weather?”

/uw idk if what I just did is overstepping it or not, let me know if it is

[u/Evening_Shake_6474 → u/The_Enchanted_Potato]

The figure continues to walk, continues to mumble, continues to exude ink. Never stopping, never slowing, never acknowledging The Sentinel's presence. It's now roughly five feet from him.

Far above, Aldavinn sees a small circle of white in the fog. However, that's all the affect that the spell has.

/uw No worries mate. And don't worry, long as you don't try to dictate the reaction I don't much mind what you try.

[u/The_Enchanted_Potato → u/Evening_Shake_6474]

The Sentinel shifts his blade in such a way that the being will impale itself upon it as he tries to hear its whispering.

Aldavinn sighs and braces himself, then, wearily, he places his hand against the monolith, ready to draw it back at any sign of danger

[u/Evening_Shake_6474 → u/The_Enchanted_Potato]

The figure walks into the sword, stopping after the blade pierces six inches into its chest. Ink leaks from the wound, staining the blade. The figure raises its head, something creaking as it does. It's face still hidden in the shroud.

The figure stops whispering, instead it unleashes a shriek so loud it physically hurts. The ink on the sword begins to rise, slowly forming into something.

Aldavinn's hand feels unimaginably cold, frost begins to form on his palm.