Author: Xurelius, Posted: Fri Nov 1, 2019 2:12 AM, Post Subject: A Cursed Meeting with a God [GO, R]

The young pirates body washed ashore between the Jasumin Lake and the Zujiuchu Mountains. The current that he had jumped into had mysteriously developed its own intent and attempted to carry him into the mountains against his will. The river had stolen the treasure that which he had stolen from the camp, and delivered the culprit to a location that is very likely to be worse than his previous predicament. Once his body touched land, the pirates eyes flashed open and he coughed up the water droplets that had found its way into his lungs.

He hoisted himself onto his legs, and the first thing that caught his eye was a decorative building in the distance. The sunlight bounced off the decorative stones, causing them to reflect a shimmer of green. Its placement was strange and ominous, the appearance was hypnotic as if it were calling to him, but every bone in his body was shouting at him to drown himself in the river instead. Xurelius chose to follow his intuition and turned his back towards the building and started wading towards the water. 

As a deterrent to his body's desire, an omen appeared before him. A portal opened up high above the lake, and Xur's eyes identified three creatures that caused him even more fear than the building. Their presence was so malicious in fact, that they broke down his natural defenses and sent him running as fast as he could to the building.  The closer he arrived to the building, the more he noticed just how strange it looked. When he finally arrived, he turned back and noticed that the portal had seemingly disappeared, and he was successfully drawn to the place that he had wanted to avoid. It was clearly something that didn't grow naturally, and frustratingly it had a door that lacked a handle, as if it could only be opened from the inside. 

There were words etched onto the door, "Only I Know The Secret" which meant nothing to the pirate. He repeated the words under his breath to himself, in various different tones and rhythms hoping that it would make sense. He paced back and forth, waiting for the inhabitant to open the door for him. Seconds, minutes,  hours passed by and the pirate still found himself trapped outside of the knobless door. Suddenly, the pirate had an epiphany. If the door wouldn't open from the inside outward, maybe he had to push it outside inward. The pirate placed his hands to the left and right side of the word "Only" and began to push as hard as he could. The door didn't budge, and his arms were beginning to give out. He turned his back to the door and his body fell limp against it, his back leaning against the "I", incidentally causing the tile to align with the rest of the letters. Suddenly, the pirate fell backwards into the opening that was created when the door opened.

"Oh, so now you want to open the DAMN door?!?!?!" He shouted into the dark abyss. 

As he stepped inside, he noticed that the dark abyss was quickly lit up with strange murals on the walls that seemed to depict a story of some kind. He made a mental note of the images of the people, none of whom were familiar to him in anyway. Though there was one image in particular of a wedding that seemed to itch at his mind as if he should have been able to identify the groom and bride, but he shrugged it off and continued his wandering through the hall until he reached another hallway.

The new hallway led Xurelius into the library, where he noticed that there was a vast amount of books available. Books were something that the pirate had never taken an interest in, which was likely a reason why he was so ignorant to the world. Everything that he had ever learned had been hearsay, and even that was a cause for concern because he could pick and choose what he wanted to believe since he lacked the interest to research and identify what was and/or wasn't truth. A staircase off to the side had caught his eye, so the pirate wandered over to it and began to climb. It was a long trek, a journey in its own right, but it was eventually proven to be worth it when he reached the top. 

There were many things in the room that should have indicated to the young man where he had arrived, but the only thing that caught his attention was the throne. His legs were tired from the stairs, but were suddenly rejuvenated enough for him to run to the throne and plop his body down onto it. He shifted uncomfortably as he realized just how poorly maintained it was. It was worse for wear, and he couldnt fathom why it was so vastly different from the rest of the building.

"Such a piece of shit." He muttered under his breath.