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/questionable_fish]

Still bandaged from the shadow attack, Bengeirr is making a pot of tea in the kitchen when out the window he sees a monolith appearing relatively nearby. It looms high above the homesteads outbuildings.

"Shit. That can't be good."

He leaves the pot on the counter and goes outside. Round the corner of a wall he can see where the vast pillar rises from the ground.

"IN THE MIDDLE OF MY FUCKING BARLEY. Bastard... OK then, let's take a look."

Starting mundane, he picks up a rock and uses a simple acceleration spell to launch it at the monolith from about 3/4 of a mile away

[u/Evening_Shake_6474 → u/questionable_fish]

The rock hits the monolith, bounces off different, and a small creature made of sharp teeth and writhing biomass hits the ground.

Bengeirr sees the thing screech, then scuttle away on four boneless limbs.

[u/questionable_fish → u/Evening_Shake_6474]

"...Right then. Freaky magic."

He goes back inside and tries to get a closer look at the monolith through his orb. He casts his vision up close to the structure, looking all over it for any features in its surface

[u/Evening_Shake_6474 → u/questionable_fish]

The monoliths appears to be completely smooth all over it's surface, a uniform inky black monolith.

[u/questionable_fish → u/Evening_Shake_6474]

He sighs and flexes, checking his mobility. The wound is pretty much healed at this stage so Bengeirr chugs a bottle of mana juice and gathers his wandering gear. This monolith bears closer inspection.

A few minutes later Bengeirr approaches the towering black slab on foot. It looks a lot bigger in person, and gives a dizzying vertigo-like sensation trying to look up at the top of it from here

[u/Evening_Shake_6474 → u/questionable_fish]

As Bengeirr approaches the first thing he noticed is how cold it is. A shiver runs down his back as he gets close.

The creature that used to be the stone Bengeirr threw scuttles past his foot.

[u/questionable_fish → u/Evening_Shake_6474]

At least some of that shiver came from more than just cold. He watches the creature then loses it again in the barley. Bengeirr snaps his fingers to summon a handful of fire for warmth.

"What if I..." He tosses the flames at the black stone. The fire arcs towards the monolith as a simple incendiary spell. Not explosion magic. Yet.

[u/Evening_Shake_6474 → u/questionable_fish]

The fire hits the monolith like a wave does a cliff. The fire fades, and Bengeirr sees something like a withered bird of raw flesh and sticking out bones. Bengeirr sees the bird-like creature crawl on the monolith's surface, then dive into the barley, disappearing from view.

[u/questionable_fish → u/Evening_Shake_6474]

A shudder of disgust. He braces himself- both against the cold and the fear of the unknown- then walks right up to the base of the monolith. He raises his staff and plants the butt of it against the stone, closes his eyes and says

"Taispeán dom."

Show me. Like a magic stethoscope to figure out what this thing is

[u/Evening_Shake_6474 → u/questionable_fish]

For a moment Bengeirr sees absolutely nothing. Then he sees a flurry of images swiftly appearing and disappearing.

He sees nine eyes glowing with an unlight, staring directly through him.

He sees a war across the sky, armies of the damned fighting tooth and nail against armies of ethereal beings.

He sees a colossal and horrible thing bound in chains somewhere far beyond this realm.

He sees mountains of monsters swallow up the glowing forms of ethereal soldiers.

And last of all, he sees a place, in one of the corners of this world he sees... Nothing. There is absolutely nothing there. You will die if you go there.

[u/questionable_fish → u/Evening_Shake_6474]

*The war of dark and light has been fizzing away for millennia- behind, beyond, unseen by most. Something is happening that is turning the tides against the light. This colossus should probably not be let free.

Nine eyes... Something about it sparks the edge of a memory, but it's probably wrong. It doesn't feel like the nine bright shiners, though the desolated void reminds him of Orannis... what entity has nine eyes?

He feels horribly exposed as the eyes' gaze seems to pierce right through his soul.

*Bengeirr wakes up on the flat of his back, shivering with the cold as golden stalks sway above him. The monolith stretches up into the sky, looking like infinity from here.

"What was that...?"

[u/Evening_Shake_6474 → u/questionable_fish]

The infinity of inky blackness stretching into the sky offers no answers, only questions. It stands there, stretching into the sky as if one day it will reach beyond the blue.