Queen of the Demonweb Pits by Paul Kidd - (ebook by Flandrel & Undead)

Author:Paul Kidd - (ebook by Flandrel & Undead) [Kidd, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Greyhawk
Published: 2012-05-16T18:10:38+00:00

The foul air shuddered with an immense, unending roar. Bruised and dazed, the party crept carefully to their feet. The dirt beneath felt like volcanic cinders—clinking, hollow stuff that leeched the skin of heat. The air brought no sense of life, wafting thick and dull as a mist of powdered lead.

The shuddering roar came from a titanic waterfall. A river too wide to see across flowed to the lip of the abyss and plunged straight down. Whole oceans of water thundered into the void, crashing into all six hundred and sixty-six layers of the Abyss on its way to the bottom of the pit. The mist of the waterfall was full of wheeling, shrieking shapes—skull-headed ghosts lost in time and mind. The waters stirred as dark shapes looped and slithered in the deeps. Numbed by the sight, Henry let his crossbow slip in his hands.

“What is that?”

Enid, Polk, and the Justicar joined him in staring at the river. Behind them, Escalla did up her clothing, sparing a glance to see what everyone else found so fascinating.

“Oh, that? River Lethe. That’s the little river here in the Abyss. If you wanna see something really impressive, you ought to see the Styx!” Escalla checked the set of her thong—perfect, as usual. “The Lethe flows through about half the outer planes. Crosses whole worlds! This is the muckiest end of it.” The faerie finished tying up her leggings. “There’s another river, about half a dozen realities away: Mnemos. Or maybe it’s actually the underside of the Lethe. It holds lost memories. Sort of the counterbalance to this one. Hoopy scene, though! Look at the size of this thing!” Escalla held up the slow glass gem to scan it slowly across the scene. “There! At least we can watch it all again and laugh in about two weeks.”

Enid blinked, her gaze still on the river. “Counterbalance? Why does a river need a counterbalance?”

“Yeah! I told you, this is the Lethe! If a mortal falls in that water, they lose all their memories.” Escalla held one end of a tie between her teeth as she affixed her mail gloves. The roar of the river made it hard to hear. “These are the outer planes! A lot of these places are what you guys think of as ‘the afterlife’. If you die, you get reborn into one of these other worlds here!”

“Really?”

“Hey, trust me on this one. I’m a faerie!” Escalla waved a hand. “They’re all out there in the planes: Elysian fields, Hades, Valhalla… and the Abyss! This here is where you go if you’ve been a real arsehole!” The girl waved her slowglass gem at the river. “The river’s like a tool. A lot of gods have their worshipers emerge from the river once they die. You know, a baptismal sort of thing. But what it really does is wipe minds! It makes lost souls into blank slates. Perfect servitors.”

“Servitors?” Enid seemed bemused. “Whatever do you mean?”

Escalla exchanged a shared glance with the Justicar then hovered up into the air.

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