Hero Quest, episode two
Gazing into the Well
Character Sheet
Race: elf
Class: bard
Background: scholar/street urchin
After weeks of searching for some clue as to his long-lost brother’s fate, our intrepid hero has found his way to a tomb of some ancient king whose name is now long forgotten. Descending into the tomb, our hero has come to an ancient burial chamber in the midst of which lies a whispering well. If this tomb truly is empty and abandoned as the legends say, then from who or what would such whispering arise?
The strained whispers rising from the well catch your attention. You hesitate for a moment, crouching in the chamber’s entrance, listening. The whispering grows louder, reaching out to you, tugging on your mind. You can almost make out the words… almost.
You blink and glance around. You’re standing in the midst of the chamber, halfway to the well, yet you can’t recall stepping out from the entrance.
The whispers rise in a sudden crescendo of harsh chattering as something shifts through your peripheral vision.
You turn.
Nothing’s there.
The whispering fades into a soft, faint drone.
Three more quick steps take you to the well’s edge. You glance over your shoulder, just to make sure you’re alone, then, leaning over the low, crumbling wall, you peer within. As you do, the whispering fades completely.
At first there is only darkness, deep and empty; absence in its purity.
Yet despite the nothingness, you cannot look away. Something within has taken hold of you and for that moment, the void below is all there is.
Then the whispering begins again, harsh and loud and hectic, echoing through your mind like the maddening song of some incomprehensible god.
A face stares up at you. It is like, yet unlike you. A warped phantom mirror. But do you see yourself? Or is it a vision of a brother you never really knew?
You call to him, but your voice is lost beneath the babble.
And then you’re falling. The darkness is all around you. Above you see yourself leaning over the well’s crumbling edge, watching. Below is only the abyss.
You blink. You’re in a hall permeated with a dull, green glow seemingly seeping out of the very stone from which the walls are carved. Ahead and behind, the way stretches out to be lost in distant swirling fog. Polished mirrors line the walls.
You step towards one and see yourself staring back at you, gaunt and pale, with sunken eyes. Then behind you, a writhing mass, grey and grotesque, arises.
You turn, tearing your sword from its scabbard.
But the creature before you is shrunken and stooped, cowering with its slimy head bowed, humming a soft, melodic song.
It looks up at you. Where a face should be is nothing but smooth, leathery flesh beret of eye or nose or mouth. It sees you though. Somehow, you can feel its eyeless gaze boring into you.
It trembles and bows its head again before shambling off down the hall, humming all the while.
Thank you for joining the adventure.
Your mind!!!
Man that was like some crazy wild nightmare! 😊😊