Wednesday, July 24, 2024

Story Post: Credits: 24 July 2024

LEGEND
ChaosGoblin
Clucky
Darknight
GloopyGhost

The Story
Clearly, the frying pan was the most suitable weapon of choice for this situation. With a mighty swing, June brought her pan down upon the bigger skunk fly with a wet crunch. As she shook the remains of the fly off, June watched its mate retreat, its panicked buzzing echoing in the distance. “Skunk flies,” June muttered to herself “Anyone who claims they aren’t harmful should come out here and try gathering swamp beets from their nest and then tell me they just smell bad.”

Her prize secured, June placed the swamp beets into her bag and began the hike back home. She would have to stop by Eddie’s garden on the way back in order to gather the last of the ingredients that she needed. As June neared the garden, a sudden acrid smell stopped her in her tracks. Something wasn’t right. She climbed the nearest maple for a better look. Between the treetops, June immediately saw the choking green smoke rising into the sky. Her eyes widened. “Pirates.”

With the sickening smell of smoke on the wind, June raced as quickly as she could towards the village. Nearing the family shop, she ducked behind an over turned cart as a pair of pirates stepped out, arms loaded with stolen goods. “Hey, thanks for the supplies buddy.” one of the pirates called out over his shoulder “Here’s the receipt back though.” With a laugh, the other pirate tossed a torch back through the doorway. June watched in horror as the shop quickly went up in flames, the yells for help inside grew silent.

Natasha, head cocked, listened as the little village at the top of the cliffs fell. With the ocean to her back and stone cliffs to her front, she seemed to have an advantageous cover, but something about this still felt wrong. Every so often, about 50 paces away, bags of supplies thudded down from the dark cliffs into the sand. Crew members were taking bags of supplies from shore to the ship when she heard, “Captain! We have it!” She turned to investigate and momentarily forgot about her worries as she saw the pale blue glow of the jewel.

As the pirate handed her the gem, Natasha allowed herself a small smile. “Beautiful,” she sighed as she leaned against a nearby cannon. “Captain, what’s so special about this gem?” Glaring, Natasha turned and held out the gem. “Its called the heart of the deep and its said to hold a power anyone with a passion for power would kill for.” Keeping her own fears hidden, she continued. “Legend says this gem allows one to control the master of the deep and rule the seas.” Muttering to one another, the other pirates began to ponder what they had just learned. Turning back to her quarters on the ship, Natasha shivered. “Unless the part about there being a girl who can use the gem to destroy the master is true.”

June spent the next several hours helping the village recover from the pirate attack. Fortunately, when all was said and done only a couple of villages had lost their lives, though several buildings were burnt down in the raid. After a long day of helping survivors, June took a moment to relax with a simple pleasure: fruit from the great apple tree that stood on top of the sandstone cliffs. As she plucked the bright red fruit from the leafy branches she took a bite. The Black Hawk could barely be seen on the horizon, but June knew it was only a matter of time before it returned. Suddenly, dark clouds began to form above the distant ship and loud thunder filled June’s ears. This was no ordinary storm. Something was wrong. Something unnatural.


Panic and fear racked the crew of the Black Hawk. No one really knew what to expect when Natasha held the Jewel of the Seas aloft, but a bottomless pit appearing before them was not anywhere on the radar. Neither was the eldritch beast which arose from the pit.

W̶̾͝Ẽ̸͊ ̷̄͑Ȧ̷͗R̶͐̍E̶̎̕ ̵̈THŔ̸̐Ő̸̾M̵͠

The deep voice penetrated their very souls.

B̸̈́͌E̸̽̌C̷̋͝O̵̅͒M̸̓͒Ĕ̶͉ ̶̕OUR VE̵͋͌S̶̔̚S̴͛̕Ẽ̷L

The bodies of Natasha and her crew lurched and her eyes turned a bright red.

D̸̂̄Ē̴̚S̵̅͝T̵̂̐R̷̅͠Ö̷́͛Y̶̏ THE GIRL

Without a word, the possessed crew of the Black Hawk turned their ship back to the village…

Back on the sandstone cliffs, June felt something hit her shoulder. Turning around she found a piece of paper wrapped around a small stone. Unfurling it, the message read: “Meet me in the crypts. We need to chat.”

As darkness continued to spread, June found herself descending into the crypts. She found herself standing inside a large chamber, surrounded by members of the village. The mayor, the blacksmith and even the director of the small playhouse. “What’s.. going on?” June asked, confused. “There’s no time” the mayor said, worry in her voice “We need you June. You’re the only one who can seal THŔ̸̐Ő̸̾M̵͠..” she stopped briefly at the word “Please.” June slowly nodded “Okay.”

Guiding June to a set of four lit candles, the mayor handed her a mirror. With a deep breath, June took the red candle and dripped the wax onto the mirror. She followed with the yellow, green and blue candles and as the wax of the blue hit the glass, the mirror began to glow. “NOW JUNE!” Racing back outside, she found herself facing the deep lord face to face. Holding the mirror and with a determined mind, June recited the chant.

“By the power of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water,
By the light of the sun and the glow of the moon,
I cast you out, demon of the deep,
Return to the depths from whence you came.
In the name of balance and harmony,
I banish you back to the watery abyss.”

An unearthly scream, a blinding light and then silence.

In the month that followed, the village rebuilt with June its protector. But on a lonely isle sat a figure, clutching a gem. “Soon master” Natasha whispered. “Soon”

The End?

 

Comments

JonathanDark: he/him

24-07-2024 21:45:19 UTC

A few interesting statistics:

* GloopyGhost’s winning Fragments directed the beginning of The Story and the direction it was taking
* Darknight wrote 4 of the 9 winning Fragments
* Clucky was the only Storyteller to have back-to-back winning Fragments

Darknight: he/him

24-07-2024 21:58:45 UTC

What a ride