The Whateley Brothers Didn't Have to Put Up With This
“Remind me again why I agreed to any of this,” Chrysalis sneered irritably as she crept behind Tirek and Cozy Glow.
“Well, we all agree that we need to keep a close eye on Grogar in case he decides to turn on us, right?” Cozy Glow replied as she flittered through the air. “And we can’t very well ask him what he’s planning, can we? So, I though we should take this opportunity to listen in on whatever it is Grogar’s doing in that lair of his and see what we can learn.”
“I hate to admit it, but it’s not really a bad plan,” Tirek added somewhat reluctantly. “Besides, it’s not as if any of us has anything better to do.”
“Hmph, I have plenty of better things I could be doing,” Chrysalis muttered under her breath. She was careful not to complain too loudly, though, lest Tirek correctly guess that her ‘better things to do’ consisted of ranting to her log. With the trio as united as they ever were the three crept down to the secluded dungeon where Grogar seemed to spend the bulk of his time. As they approached the entrance, the sounds of what seemed at first to guttural chanting could be heard emanating from inside. Peering into the room, they could see Grogar standing in front of an intricate circle of runes painted onto the floor ringed by a series of black candles. The chanting appeared to be coming from Grogar himself, but it sounded as though a multitude of voices were emanating from his mouth all chanting the unearthly refrain.
“I wonder how he does that thing with his voice,” Cozy Glow idly mused. “It’s got a real ‘otherworldly evil-overlord’ vibe to it. That’s not really my usual style, but –”
“Quiet!” Chrysalis hissed, not wanting to risk Grogar hearing them. As Chrysalis did so, however, the chanting abruptly stopped, leaving an unnatural silence in its wake. At the same time, something could be seen happening in the air above the circle of runes. Initially it was barely noticeable, a thin vertical line in the air like a papercut in the fabric of reality. Slowly, however, the edges of the slit pulled open to form a portal hanging in the air. The realm on the other side of the tear in reality defied both words and sanity, an undulating, writhing mass of everchanging colors and shapes. Far worse, though, was the noise that emanated out from the portal, the cacophonous screaming of a thousand goats bleating in chaotic unison. Tirek, Cozy Glow and Chrysalis found themselves transfixed in primal horror by the noise, their sense so overwhelmed they scarcely noticed the blood that had started trickling from their ears.
Grogar, meanwhile, seemed completely unfazed by the horror he had conjured forth as he lowered his head and began to address it in a ritualistic fashion. “Ia, Shub-Niggurath! I, Grogar of Tambelon, call –” The bleating screams from beyond the portal rose in volume, cutting Grogar off. When Grogar was finally able to speak again, his voice had lost all trace of the ritualistic solemnness it had had before, replaced with common irritation. “Well, maybe I would call more often if you would respond to something less than a full eldritch ritual. Do you have any remote idea how hard it is to find black candles in this world? Once a year I have to mind control some witless pony around Nightmare Night to fetch them and then hope the stores have them in stock. And don’t even get me started on what I have to do to gather the ingredients for the tinctures to draw the circle.”
The sounds reverberating from the portal increased in volume at this, blotting out all other sound and even causing the ambient light of the cave to flicker and dim. It was as though the unnatural chorus was so great and terrible that the light of the world had no choice but to flee lest it consumed in its wake.
Grogar, meanwhile, was unimpressed. “Alright, alright, fine. I’ll make an extra effort to tear the fragile boundaries between worlds asunder on a more regular basis. Are you happy now?” The cacophonous bleating from beyond seemed to subside slightly. “Good. Now, as I was trying to tell you in the first place, the time of my conquest of this miserable world is finally drawing closer. Once I have recovered my bell I will –”
Once again, Grogar found himself interrupted by the unnatural bleating from the portal. This time, however, the din sounded less angry and more concerned, almost condescendingly so.
“No, I don’t need Nub or Yig to assist me in my conquest of this world,” Grogar snorted irritably as the bleating continued unabated. “Yes, I realize that they have both conquered other worlds, but this –” The bleating continued to swell in volume, briefly drowning Grogar out. “You don’t understand, this world isn’t like that! It’s not as simple as –” Grogar’s efforts to speak seemed to be in vain as the sounds coming form the [portal reached a fevered pitch until Grogar finally screamed in frustration. “ENOUGH! Are you really going to sit there and compare me to all nine hundred ninety-nine of my siblings? I will conquer this world on my own in my own time without needing to beg for help!”
An awkward silence descended on the cave as Grogar finished, breathing heavily as he glared defiantly at the portal. After a few seconds passed the bleating from beyond the portal resumed, though now sounding far more subdued.
Grogar let out a sigh of resignation at this new development. “I’m sorry,” Grogar finally grumbled. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. This is just something that I need to handle myself.” The bleating seemed to pick up slightly as Grogar spoke, though not at the same volume as earlier. “I know you’re only trying help,” Grogar paused as if he needed to steel himself for what he was going to say next. “I love you too, mother.”
As the Black Goat of the Forrest said her farewells to one of her thousand young, Grogar allowed the tear in reality to reseal itself. Grumbling to himself about how the spawn of Yog-Sothoth didn’t have to deal with this sort of thing, Grogar exited the cave, casually stepping over the prone form of Cozy Glow as he did so. The young pegasus was unconscious and foaming at the mouth, her eyes completely rolled up inside her head. Chrysalis, meanwhile, had fared little better. The changeling queen had been left in a catatonic state, rivulets of ichor leaking from her eyes, ears and mouth as she started blankly into the air. Only Tirek had succeeded in remaining conscious throughout the conversation, though he had been reduced to curling himself into a ball and rocking back and forth as he baffled incoherently to himself.
“Hmph,” Grogar snorted in irritation. “I suppose I’ll have to restore their minds before I can use them for anything else. Still, at least perhaps this will be enough to teach them to avoid eavesdropping in the future.”
