Memories in Cyric's Temple
Vision from the Horae
Hear our words, O servant of the Horae. We summon thee to our lecterns.
You blink and find nothing but blackness around you, save for three shrouded figures surrounding you and looking downward towards you.
Diké: When the Universe first spawned, blinking in the face of chaos, and the bureaucracy of heaven made its first decrees, the dark was pushed back to build a new age, one of light, and so the races flourished across the cosmos. But the dark had machinations of its own.
Eunomia: To match the gods of the light, both good and evil, the dark built a twisted pantheon of aberrations, each an evil being designed by the mind of a madman. Countless monstrosities were given dominion over the worst evils of creation, and so Celestia and Avernus fought back against the aberrations, hand in hand. And so, the Dark was defeated.
Eirene: Before the final blow was struck, the most powerful of the Outer Gods fashioned of their essences unholy tomes of knowledge. Bound in otherworldly leather and written on parchment shorn of the slave races, the Black Books became their arms, eyes, ears, and minds- designed to spread their madness to the waking world. Through their use, people would become their pawns, moving and acting in the interest of the book, losing all autonomy, and spreading the influence of the outer gods.
All: And now they seek to bring the dark once again.
Daoloth, the Parter of Veils
Nodens, the Lord of the Great Abyss
Shub-Niggurath, the Black Goat of the Woods
Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos
Cxaxukluth, the Limitless Desire
Yog-Sothoth, the Key and the Guardian of the Gate
Ubbo-Sathla, the Unbegotten Source
Abhoth, Source of Uncleanness
Dagon, the Ruler of the Deep
Quachil-Uttaus, the Lord of Decay
And Azathoth, the Demon Sultan, who ruled over all.
Diké: If left to their devices, they will find willing thralls who will bring them back into the Waking World, and on the Day of Black Sun, they will return and transform reality into a twisted carnival of madness that will never cease.
Eunomia: But fear not, for your journey is already on its way. You and your companions have accomplished a great deal by defeating Quachil-Uttaus’s influence and consigning him to oblivion. Nevermore will his rot infect the waking world. Already four of the Outer Gods have fallen: aside from Quachil-Uttaus, so too have fallen Ubbo-Sathla, Nyarlathotep, and Yog-Sothoth.
Eirene: What has been done to them, you must do to the rest before they can return to their true forms. Behold: the sign of sealing.
She extends her arm to reveal a lopsided pentagram, etched in blue, on her sleeve.
Burn it into your mind and never forget it. It will lead you to victory, and the world to salvation. The Seals placed by the Ancient Ones have been hurt, but not destroyed. You can revive them.
Diké: But beware, for there are those on your path who seek to undermine you. The Warlock Malyn Volar still lives, growing ever stronger day by day. His words reach many, flowing like wine laced with hemlock, poisoning thousands with each passing hour. His voice echoes throughout an entire nation, and every person hears him-and would die if he commanded it.
Eunomia: A deceiver plots in the shadows, promising aid and assistance lent, but he waits with a dagger ready to strike and end your journey in failure. He claims virtue and reason, but his is the path of madness-having thrown in his lot with Volar long ago.
Eirene: The LeShay you seek is doom-driven, and has long since left this place. He knows naught but the call of coin and promises of power and influence. He will be his own undoing to the detriment of the world.
Diké: This daunting task ahead of you and your companions will be the hardest you will yet face, but it will not be impossible. We are here with you even now.
Eunomia: Your efforts against Terolmic Dory have absolved you of your crimes against him. Rest your mind for his tragedy- there was nothing you could have done for him.
Eirene: There are others, though, you might yet save. For not all damage done by the books cannot be reversed, just as not every reader of the books is consigned to suffer their evil influence, as one of your companions well knows. Now go forth with your companions…
Diké: For Justice
Eunomia: For Order
Eirene: For Peace
All: And for the fate of all