The First stands and rises from a throne not his own, but where he had been ruling a kingdom of monsters for one that had awakened him from eons of sleep. The First moves to the center of the throne room and looks around for the returned duke. But the duke is in a new form, twisted by the dark curse of the gods, the duke is now truly a blood-monster. The First greets the returning duke and has him reclaim his throne. Maybe it was the First or the duke himself; but either way the creature once known as Duke Nightmare is now the Mantaipede; blood-monster, King of the Underground Forest, Dragon High Lord of the Red Army, Prince of the Unseelie, and bane to all that is good. The First solidifies his alliance with the Mantaipede; making sure that the Mantaipede and his armies will be there when the Master of the Sky calls for them.
The Second takes heavy steps thru a murky swamp. The Second could easily walk above the thick terrain or even pass thru it magically, but the Second almost enjoys the awkward and treacherous travel. The Second would finally make his way to a clearing where a lone hut sits surrounded by a perimeter lined with sticks each capped with a skull. The magical protection of the skulls cannot keep the Second out and the old man passes by the skulls and up to the door of the hut. No secret can be kept for long from the Master of the Sky and the Second uses a series of hand gestures, knocking on the door in a particular pattern. The Second would make his way thru the hut, passing many strange and extraordinary sights to find the old woman of the hut. The Second wasted no time in simply parley with the old woman, instead of the normal pleasantries that might go with a negotiation the Second simply granted the old woman’s deepest desire. And this is how it came that the wicked which Baba Yaga was given her youth back and came to server the Master of the Sky.
The Third had been standing on the elegant and elaborate bridge the crossed over a very special lake. The lake drew its water from a spring but this spring was pure energy itself. Fore this lake and spring sit in the Court of the Unseelie, the dark fairies of the Shadow World. The Third had been staying in the Court as guest to the Queen of the Unseelie herself. The Queen had asked for the aid of the Master of the Sky to defeat the Unseelie’s greatest enemy; that of the good-aligned Seelie. The Third had not given the Dark Queen an answer yet and stood gazing at the waters in the lake for sometime. In a place where time is not of great importance, the Queen of the Unseelie grows impatient and summons the Third and demands an answer. And this dear reader would lead to a confrontation on the cosmic scale. The Third asked what some could call a simple question and what others might call a threat. The Queen had to remember who she was dealing with but would not back down. A clash of the titans almost occurred but the Dark Queen remembered who her true enemy was, what her true goal was, and that there would be no easy means to accomplish it. And thus from this confrontation an odd alliance would grow, the Master of the Sky would help the Dark Queen grow in power.
The Fourth would step into an alien and hostile environment. The sky was red in chaos and the ground black as charcoal. Ahead of the Fourth lies a tangled forested, wicked in appearance the trees appear possessed by the wind swaying with almost lifelike horror. In the far landscape one can see a huge castle thru the wicked woods but that is not the destination of the Fourth. The Fourth moves thru the evil forest on a mission so bound in evil that any horrible creature in the foul woods does not dare cross the Fourth’s path. The Fourth makes his way to a magnificent mansion appearing almost out of nowhere in the middle of the wicked woods. The Fourth finds the front door ajar and enters. The Fourth is greeted by a creature of the night and led to a study room. The Fourth declines entrance to the study and insists on seeing the lord of the house. The creature of the night is unprepared for this and calls upon a minor demi-god and an ancient lich to occupy the Fourth. The Fourth wastes no time in telling the evil trio that they serve the evil will of the Master of the Sky and the time draws near for the great confrontations.
The Fifth walks up the hundreds of steps leading to a place called the Palace of Skulls. And when the Fifth reaches the top it becomes obvious why this place has such a name. The Dark God Zaltec had his mansion built from the very skulls of his followers. Millions of skulls comprise the walls, columns, and other architectural features of the Palace of Skulls. The Fifth is greeted as an honored guest and brought into the main audience chamber. There the Fifth spots the master of this land and sees the bounty and merriment of his court. The Fifth humbles himself before the Dark God Zaltec and offers many fine treasures: jewels, jewelry, weapons, and works of art. Zaltec is pleased but is apprehensive as why the Master of the Sky would send an agent to his court after all this time. The Fifth agrees that they were once enemies and probably would have remained so but mortal agents of a young godling and sought out both these ancient gods for further power. The Fifth conjunctures that there would be plenty of room for everyone when he returns to high power and that the affairs of mortals are the least of his concerns. And thus once great rivals from eons past now stand as allies and all the realms of man and god should quiver with that information but it is a dark secret known only by few.
The Sixth stood in an alien and hostile environment. The sky a bleak yellow and the terrain that of a sandy desert for all that could be seen. No one would willingly come to this horrid place out of freewill and that is something the slave drivers with their whips where good at destroying; freewill. Thousands of slaves toiled under the hot sun of this oppressing landscape, pulling a castle on rollers. Slaves were dropping dead by the dozen each hour but demons would magically appear, creating gates to summon in more slaves and removing the dead for whatever horrible purpose. Some of the demons eventually noticed the Sixth and went to investigate. These demons being incredible young and dumb thought they could intimidate the Sixth and bind him into slavery. Those demons did not last long and in a display of power the Sixth caused the destruction with great effect. More demons where dispatch from the crawling castle but instead of engaging the Sixth they approached with offers of entertainment. The Sixth would be brought instead of the crawling castle and shown the wonders of the main hall. There were slave girls from a hundred worlds dancing, food enough to feed an army open to banquet, drink in plenty and strong in vigor. The crawling castle excess in indulgencies is matched in its cruelty to its servants. The Demon Lord to whom this horrible mobile oppression palace calls home is known as the Prince of the Gnolls. The Sixth congratulates the Demon Prince on his many accomplishes and triumphs. The Demon Prince becomes very worried that all his power is about to come to an end but the Sixth informs him that he did not come here to kill him but to offer him alliance. And thus did the Demon Prince of the Gnolls come to serve the Master of the Sky; pledging his armies of demons, gnolls, and ghouls to whatever cause the Master of the Sky saw fit to fight.
The Seventh strolled into the Greek city of Thebes. The Greek Empire is basically at its height, heroes like Hercules are out right wrongs and defeating powerful monsters. The Seven Seas are flush with merchants. The Seventh arrives at what some might call the pinnacle of mortal achievement. The Seventh moved thru the city streets unmolested, just another old man out for a walk. The Seventh would make his way to a temple to the Greek pantheon. And in this temple to the Greek gods; ancient powers could conspire to bring about the end to the Gods Reign. The Seventh greeted his titan agents and found out that their plans where already in motion. These titans that the Master of the Sky has allied himself to have begun to seek their vengeance on the God of Gods by bring some of his powerful children down. The God of Gods is known to have a wavering eye and has bedded many beautiful mortal women. And it is the children of these unions that the titans are working on wrecking. The Seventh learns how his titan agents are moving to bring down the rulers of Thebes; children of the God of Gods. The Seventh is happy with this news and orders the lesser titans to remain in the realm of mortals while the spirit of memory will be sent to the Mantaipede to help his transformation. The spirit of justice is to accompany the Master of the Sky himself while he seeks his vengeance.
The Eighth steps out of a burst of volcanic activity and stands, feet burning, on the flow of lava down the volcanic mountain. The mountain itself is thousands of feet high and the Eight rides the lava down to the base. The lava pools into a vast river that would flow to a sea of lava, a veritable ocean of fire. Fore this dear reader is the harsh landscape that comprises the Elemental Plane of Fire. And in this burnt landscape of fire there sits a plateau of obsidian. Almost an island of rock in a sea of fire. And on this rock gives rise to the City of Brass, home to the eternal effertis. The Eight slowly but surely makes his way to the obsidian stone foundations of the City of Brass and steadily makes his way to one of the giant entrances to the walled town. Each step across the stone ground, the Eighth leaves a smoldering foot print, as if the hot lava of the very Elemental Plane could not melt the rock but the slightest foot step of the Eighth burns the very rock. The Eighth would have been denied entrance but the guards valued their lives more than their duty. The Eighth stoically makes his way to the grandest spire in the city, that of the chief sultan. The Eighth works his way up the spire, past hundreds of guards, viziers, and other palace staff to approach the doors to the grand chamber of the chief sultan. Before the grand doors awaiting the Eighth is a small army of the chief sultan’s personal advisors, mystics, and sages. The Eighth makes the claim that he would blow out all the flames in existence if they would continue to stand in his way. And thus did the Eighth gain admittance to an audience wit the chief sultan of the efferti. But the Eighth did not try to strong-arm the chief sultan; no dear reader the agent of the Master of the Sky charmed the chief sultan to his cause with the promise of even more power when the Master of the Sky reclaimed his throne.
The Ninth would step out onto yet another abyssal landscape but instead of stepping on dirt or rock, the Ninth steps onto a terrain composed of organic mater. This entire layer of the Abyss seems to be alive; an evil mold encompassing the land. But a new ooze or fungus has sprung up, the Ichor Entity, and has grown in power, worshipers, and followers. Maybe the Abyss gave birth to the Ichor Entity, maybe the god-monster was given rise after the many clashes between Zuggtmoy and Juiblex and their attempts at breaching into the mortal world or maybe the Ichor Entity arrived from somewhere else and the conditions where just right in the fetid layer of Shedaklah to give rise to this monster. But whatever the case, the Master of the Sky was going to use the Ichor Entity as a testing ground for his awesome power. The Ninth took almost bouncy steps as he crossed the ghastly landscape of Shedaklah seeking out its one mortal city. Xhubhullosk is a city full of madmen; fore that is what this alien world does to mortal men: drives them insane. So naturally the Church of All has established a worship sight to the “Ever Insane Dragon God.” And it is at this temple holding where the Ninth is headed. The Ninth has kept the demon known as Yibyiru, the Rancid Lady, studying her as the most ancient creature found in Shedaklah. Here the Ninth will take Yibyiru and proceed with her to the Ichordeep and meet with his other allies for the assault on the Ichor Entity. And thus dear reader has the Master of the Sky begun his reascension to the top.
What about the Tenth? Well dear reader maybe our illustrious writer is at a loss for more things to do? But the most important thing is keeping the identity of the Master of the Sky a secret from ancient enemies. And dear reader you might not have put all the pieces together but one of the Avatars of the Elder Sky God did kill an agent of one of his greatest enemies in a pervious blog entry. And that ancient foe would dispatch one of the guardians of his infernal prison to search out the agent that was lost. And that dear reader is how the Tenth Avatar of the Elder Sky God would defeat Gyges, one of the Hekatonkheires. Now while none would find out for a while who killed the legendary Gyges; just the fact that such an ancient and powerful creature could be slain is going to send a ripple of fear up both Mount Olympus and Mount Othrys alike. Soon the Master of the Sky would bring low those who had sought to see him dead once. Soon all would know of the return of the Elder Sky God: Uranus.
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