The Dawn of the New World

A few minutes ago...

Somewhere within the depths of the inner sanctum the space rippled and creaked as a mass of tentacles carrying a golden shield on its back crawled out of a miniature wormhole. By the time the space had stabilized Mendax was already on his feet, dusting himself off while looking at the group of 4 individuals in front of him.

They were standing on a small island at the edge of a waterfall. The water was pitch black and it flowed in reverse, going up the waterfall instead of down but, that wasn't even the strangest thing about this place.

The entire space, both up and down, was divided into two completely different halves starting from the edge of the waterfall.

The section on the left was where the waterfall was going down and it was much wider and open than the right side. There was even some pearly moonlight cutting through the fast-moving clouds but most of it was a world hidden behind the wall of a heavy unmoving fog with some strange silhouettes moving about in the far distance.

But there was no wind nor sound present on the entire left side which made this somewhat enchanting scene quite haunting after an initial glance.

Now, the right side was the exact opposite in a number of ways.

First, there was no sky here. It was just another piece of barren land overhead, stretching out as far as the eye could see. And right below it was a black ocean. It was completely motionless without any waves of ripples, without any signs of life that would normally be present in such a vast body of water.

It was a world drenched in darkness without any source of light or life...a kingdom of death.

The island where the four figures stood arguing was smack dab in the center of all this. Half of it was covered by the darkness of the right and the other by the soundless light of the left.

Each side was entirely different from the other but neither were 'whole'.

It made no sense but then again, there usually never was a place for common sense where the Old Gods resided.

Mendax walked on the still ocean water to get to the island, clapping twice to get the attention of everyone present.

"I see everyone is here!" he said merrily.

One of these four was the old witch herself, Baba Jezda. Next to her was a humanoid creature with the head of an octopus.

This creature was by far the most 'normal' looking one here despite its appearance. It wore a lavish purple robe embroidered with gold and silver. It had six webbed fingers on each hand and every one of them had at least two exquisite rings.

It was covered in various artifacts and relics that ranged from powerful pendants to nose and ear piercings.

Mendax gave a respectful bow in its direction first and foremost, "Lord Aekor, it has been a long time. What a pleasant surprise to see you again. I did not expect to see you here of all the people."

Aekor gave a cordial smile in response since they obviously knew each other.

"We are all but servants of the Nine. I am here by my master's will, as I am sure are the others," he said gesturing to the people around him but more specifically to the two in front.

Both Baba Jezda and Aekor were standing on the right side of the island, bound in the darkness that birthed them.

Across from them standing within the shimmering moonlight were two beings. One of them was a four-meter-tall half-giant with dark red skin. He had long curly hair that came down to his shoulders.

He held a 20-centimeter-wide stone token in his hands, playing with it casually while mumbling to himself.

He was lost in a world of his own and only when Mendax spoke to him directly did he respond.

"Lord Cerritos, many greetings," Mendax clasped his hands as a show of respect.

The man named Cerritos turned towards him with a vacant look, "Hmm? Yes. It has been a long time-"

As soon as he started speaking the one standing beside him interrupted.

"Not long enough," a feminine voice hissed balefully, "An offspring of the new gods openly walks among our midst...and you all do nothing?!"

Mendax stepped to the side to look at her directly. She was wearing a patchy green robe that covered everything but her hands and the bottom half of her face.

The only thing being that what little skin that could be seen was rotting and festering with all kinds of maggots and bugs.

"Lady Purto, I believe this is your first time attending our little gathering. Please remember where you stand, no fighting of any sort will be entertained here as long as I am the overseer," Mendax warned her plainly.