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~The Court~

It was finished.  After the blade had been honed to impossible sharpness by skill and magics, a massive shaft of wood, transported all the way from the Golden Forest, was fitted to it, transforming the blade into a mighty spear.

But who could wield such a mighty weapon?  The Cane and Eladrin, bolstered by several halflings and even a few strange fungal men who had appeared over the last few days offering assistance began to plot out a massive machine to throw the spear at the Leviathan.   However, a few, remembering, perhaps, an earlier time when the Gods would appear to mortals,  turned their eyes upwards and prayed that if any Gods were still active in the world's affairs, that they would look down and see the weapon prepared for them.

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~The Hive~

The City had grown tired of waiting.  Its prey had eluded its grasp at every turn, and now it was time to finish this job.  The entire massive entity was stuck to the side of the Hive, sending in giant, tunnel-filling plugs of its own essence, slowly filling the entire structure with its presence.  The Trilobites had retreated further and further up as the fungus had spread.

Finally, help arrived.  Kyrion swarmmaidens struck out at the expanding fungal masses, forcing it back down the tunnels while Swordwings cut into the combat forms that The City spat out to defend itself.  Mazunti divers, adept beneath the waves, swam into the Twisted Hive from below, and using smoke and fire, drove the fungus before it.

Soon, the terraces of The City were sinking beneath the waves once more as a chilling message floated upwards.

YOU CANNOT HIDE MY PARTS FROM ME FOREVER.  I WILL NEVER STOP SEARCHING. 

~The Forge~
In the forge, a floating soul worked, using its new metal body to provide blow after blow to the object before him, slowly fashioning it into the object he desired.  Again and again he worked the metal object, switching here and there to ever small tools as he worked out the fine connections and valves and compartments.  It would be ready soon.

Again came the hammer, and, in a flash of sparks, the Heart began to beat.

~The Triskelion~
As the Leviathan fell, wounded horribly by Astriluxus' assault, suddenly, the Seelite Spear leaped upwards, smashing through the roof of the building in which it had been assembled, and streaked off towards the battle, sailing between Astriluxus and Pollux and sliding into the beast in a thin opening rent by one of the Great Dragon's claws.  The Leviathan jerked once, then suddenly grew still.  From the side of the beast, sticking out at an angle, the small amount of Seelite still visible glowed impossibly bright, holding within itself the soul of one which could rival the Gods themselves.

As the Leviathan died, its flesh began to solidify, turning to stone.  Soon, curled around the eastern side of the Triskelion, the transformation was complete.  The beast was no more, replaced by a mountain range.

~The Glacier~

The Eye of Concordia opened, and stared out at the world.  It would take some time to gather her strength, but with her eternal foe gone... she could feel his essence leaving this world, it was time for her to rise ascendant once more.   

But soon.  For now, the great beast waited and watched.


~The Tomb of Itja-Rek~
Itja-Rek, at long last, came home, stepping over the boundaries of his tomb and following the painted passageways down, down, down the stairs and into the central chamber.  With a wave of his hands, the chandelier sprung to light, casting its eerie glow over the entire room.  He spared a glance to The Mother, still sleeping as if he had only left a moment ago instead of... how long *had* he been gone?  Did it even matter now?  He imagined not.  

He passed to the far wall, and, activating the secret catches, stepped through into his inner sanctum.  Immediately, a presence assaulted his mind, clawing at it, demanding one thing and one thing alone.

"RELEASE US."

Itja-Rek thrust out a hand to steady himself as he forced the voice back and away, relegating it to a few of his souls, who squirmed under the intense demands.  What, exactly... had happened here?

He thrust open the door to his storage, and blinked in surprise.  All the souls, each and every one he had captured over the millenia, were active, throwing patterns of thought across the void towards one another.  They must have learned to speak to one another in his absence, reaching out to the others in their condition.  And yet... there was more.

Just as Itja-Rek was one from many, in the recesses of the communication between the souls, in the silence between the words, more information flowed, and from that came the presence that had assaulted Itja-Rek earlier.

"I will free you."  Itja-Rek said, beginning to go to work.  He went to a wall and pulled out his prized specimen, one of the humans that had vanished into Aaviz' hat so long ago.  He took it back to his workbench, and grabbed his tools.  

In slid the blade, cutting just next to the bone of the arm, passing easily through skin and muscle before cutting down the length of the arm.  Working quickly, the blade passed across the hands, cutting open the palm and each finger.  Gently, Itja-Rek reached in, pushing the flesh out of the way and grasping the bone, pulling it gently out and laying it to the side.  It was vital that the tendons stay intact, at least for now.  The process was repeated on the other arm, then, the blade slid across the chest, just under the collarbone, before cutting shallowly down the sternum.  Within moments, Itja-Rek was reaching into the body and pulling out one organ after another, tossing them aside and, with a snap of his fingers, sending them into oblivion.  He stood back and checked his work, then proceeded to cut through the legs, pulling the bones free as before.

The head proved a bit tricky, but soon the flesh was removed and the skull stared up at the God.  He pulled away the remaining flesh, disposing of it with a blast of flame before returning to the skeleton and washing it carefully, cleaning any remaining blood and tissue from it, leaving just the tendon-connected bones behind.   Then, he turned and went back into the other room and began gathering souls together.  He forced them together into a mass before returning to the table and forcing the mass up into the brain cavity.  It took several minutes, but eventually, a dull glow began shining from the skeleton's eyes as the souls within grew accustomed to their new surroundings.  Fingers twitched, legs shook, and, after a long moment, the mouth began to wheeze soft words.

"thank you."  It said.

"I am going to leave you this place for now.  Watch over it until my return."  The god told its... Son, he imagined would probably be the best word to describe it.  The skeleton nodded, and the two returned together to the main chamber of the tomb.  Once there, the skeleton came and sat on the throne, while Itja-Rek went over and picked up The Mother, cradling her against his clammy chest.

"Come, Mother.  I think its time we leave and go to live with our Children.  This musty Tomb... I find I no longer enjoy it."

And he went to the wall and stepped through the Portal to the Endless River, where the souls of the dead float in peace.

And in a side room, next to a broken machine, a naga lay, tail spasming every so often.  Blue, glowing veins ran up her arms and across her chest, and her face... her eyes burned, so bright was the light shining from it.  

And yet, the gaze was dull, the scales dirty, the face unwashed.  The Reaper lay there, tongue hanging from her mouth, twitching it every once in a while to flip more of the essence of the distillery into her throat, experiencing her god's Bliss forever, just as she wanted.  


~Bahetshep~

"Just LISTEN to me."  Angelique snapped, standing before the very council of scholars that had laughed her from their presence nearly fifty years ago.

"Do you see this rock?  How about this one?   How can you deny this?  I have traveled the length of this world, talking to those who are the oldest of us all.  The Trilobites, the Eladrin, the Mish, the Naga and Death Titans, the Eladrin.  I have even sought out the records of the Illithids and met with the presence known as The City.  They only have myths and legends of those times, but the totality of their testimony can only serve to prove my hypothesis.  Two worlds, floating seprately through the universe, thrown together by unknown forces and fused together into this one, a world where horrors from the darkest storms coexist with those born among fields of mushrooms.  Is it not wonderful?  Is it not astounding what we have done?  Do you not believe?"


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"In the writings above, I have laid out the argument that our single world was once Two.  Yet, if we were once Two, and now One, how is it that the world fits so perfectly together?  How is it that the Vineaza and Elves live in such harmony?  How is it that the Dobbits fall prey to Hook Horrors, who are then eaten by Skyhawks?  If we were once Two, perhaps we were always meant to become One.  Perhaps, like long-estranged lovers, our two worlds needed one another.  We, their children, are undoubtedly  better off for their union."
~Closing words of "The WorldWarp"  by Angelique Pym.

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