[HQ Ignorance] Scene 112: The Great Mouth

[Lev Lafayette]

Scene 112: The Great Mouth

Aalmon casts his minor magics, but deep within this pit, far from the
Glowline and far from the watchful eye of the Goddess, only the faintest
glimmer could reach [roll 2 from an ability of 5W, success bumped to
critical versus roll of 1 from an resistance of 3W - sorry Aalom, you
really have the wrong magic for Hell Crack!, marginal failure]. Newt
shook her head at the Courier's attemps and turned to The Fourth. "I
guess we're not leaving yet?"

"Hey! I've been trained to deal with situations like this", Aalmon
responded, not entirely believing it himself.

"Here", said the Newtling helpfully. "Just a little bit should be
enough", as the amphibian smeared a combination of excrement, rotting
vegetable slurry and squashed bugs over Aalmon's body. And far you too,
Newt turns to The Fourth. "Just try not to eat it all. I know what you
trolls are like." The Fourth gave Newt a quizzical look. That was the
first time anyone had called him a troll.

With Icthya's paralysed body in tow, the group gradually climbed down
the walls of Hell Crack. The crawling mouths were nowhere to be seen.
"Maybe we got them demoralised", Aalmon said wryly. The journey was
arduous especially with an additional body. Eventually however the
group, following Newt, journeyed through a tunnel which opened up into a
vast chamber. It was not an expected sight.

In the chamber was some two score humans, chanting and swaying, being
led by Niantic of the Three Burrows Nest. Scampering mouths, the
krashtkids, climbed over them, and instead of fear the humans seemed to
welcome these Chaotic beasts. And the Shaman spoke of the three ages of
the Goddess, the first who made the world, the second who ruled the
world and the greatest, whose time is coming, who will destroy the
world. By controlling the tunnels underneath the Wastes and to hell and
back, the birth of the Hungry Goddess would be eased.

As the Shaman made these blasphemous, out of the Hell Crack itself and
into the chamber crawled a massive multi-legged creature whose central
body was a random accumulation of eyes and a gaping maw. The assembled
throng went into a frenzy at this point.

Just then Icthya's body started going to into mad convulsions. "It is
happening!" cried Newt, "Throw her away! Throw her away!"