Re: Journal Notes, etc.
The man opened his eyes as if awakening from a deep slumber. Indeed, he didn't even remember falling asleep, and as he rose to stretch and yawn, he realized that he really wasn't tired at all...which merely stood to reason, if he was just now waking up. Dressed in the finery of what he could only assume was nobility, he smiled to himself...this was nice.
But was he really awake? For some reason his mind was foggy, and he couldn't seem to remember his name, or who he was. Had he been struck on the head? No, the simple fact that he was reasoning and rationalizing his situation meant that he hadn't suffered a blow to the head. Well, that at least was comforting news.
His surroundings were unfamiliar, but not unpleasant. He stood upon a road, with a pale sky - dusk or dawn, he couldn't tell which at the moment - glowing faintly overhead to light his path. In one direction was more of the flat, rocky terrain that seemed to surround him; the other held a slight upslope, and what looked like a structure of some sort.
Perhaps he was a king, and that was his castle?
He reached the fortress even before he realized he was walking toward it, and the doors, taller than he by three times, opened at a thought without the need for his pushing hands. Padded slippers fell upon shiny marble floors, making only a whisper of sound as he strode through the castle, peering into room after room of quiet emptiness.
At last he came to the end of the hallway to find closed gates, beyond which it opened into a great feasting hall. These he *did* have to push aside, and as he did so he cut himself of the metal grating. The sharp pain and sight of his own blood were a dose of reality to the man; this was no dream. As he watched, the cut closed itself, the tissue regenerating rapidly to heal the man's wound.
This was fascinating! Perhaps he was a god?
"Come in" said a voice, resonating with the sticky sweetness of playful power. It was the first sound he had heard outside of his own breathing and footsteps, and the man quickly entered, heedless of any danger. After all, he might well be a god. What did he have to fear?
Within was a banquet, laid out in preparation of what? His return? A man stood there to one side of the great throne-seat at the table's head, preparing to seat the man as he walked around the table and surveyed it all. Rich foods piled high in jewel-encrusted serving bowls. Plates of the most highly polished silver and utensils made from gold. Wines and cheeses from the four corners of the world. All for him.
As he moved to sit in the chair, however, the man smiled and shook his head. "Oh, no sir. This seat is reserved. Your place is here...as the guest of honor." The butler placed a small step-stool in front of his feet and then walked around to the center of the table, removing the cover from the large platter to reveal the main course - but there was nothing on the platter.
All around the table, chairs suddenly filled with bodies. Large and small, twisted and humanoid, demons and their kin teleported in to take their places at the banquet table. One very large, very fearsome one sat in the throne-seat at the table's head.
"You seem surprised, friend!" The demon, and all of his friends laughed a roaring, thoroughly terrifying round of guffaws and chuckles that made the man wince.
"Who are you, that you dare insult me in my own home?" shot back the retort from the man who had thought he was awake, but who now reasoned he must be dreaming. "Wake me from this dream and begone!"
"Your home? Dream? My dear friend, don't you know where you are? This is my home, and these are my guests...all friends of yours!" The demon chuckled again, low and sinister. "You, who have summoned us time and again to *your* home. We have now consented to do the same for you."
As he spoke, the man in fine robes was forcibly picked up from where he stood by the butler and placed roughly on the serving platter. In an instant he was trussed like a roast pig. All around him the demons' eyes lit up as they prepared for the feast.
"What madness is this? I don't even know who you are! I don't even know who *I* am!" Fear began to creep into his consciousness, and he willed himself to awaken from this dream-turned-nightmare.
"Then let me explain. This is the eighty-third level of the Abyss. You are the Thayan wizard Shaene, killed in battle by undead minions of one of my servants. These are the demons you have summoned to do your bidding all of your pathetic mortal life." The great demon picked up a knife and fork, stabbing the wizard and cutting off a pice of flesh with excrutiating pain...flesh which regenerated almost instantly.
"And you shall trouble us no more."