To the prophecies untold

The climb to glory

Storyline: Blight of the Yellow King

The yellow king treads on hallowed ground. Behind him, the trail of blood in his footsteps.

Hear ye, hear ye, the many sound. Before him, the end of evil concepts.

Come hither, come hither, make joyful noise. A sovereign's grace before thee.

Of man and gods, the hope of all girls and boys. The holy one walks amidst thee.

All wars will end, all knees will bow. All mouths are fed, all dreams come true.

O king in Yellow, his promise vow. All hearts will gleam, a world for me and you.

These were the words Le'garde had heard of in his childhood. These were the prophecies that bled into his mind. This was a promise made to him by the children of his long forgotten town.

"You're thinking about it again? How cute." The djinn teased.

The yellow king scoffed at her and continued walking. At last, he arrived at his destination— Demon's crest, the far land of this realm. He lowered his cloak and took in the scenery. He had reached the northern most point of the continent, the tundra beneath the snowy mountain tops. He tilted his head up, his eyes affixed beyond the clouded peak of this strange land.

The king turns his head, looking behind him. He sees the monsters that were born beneath his feet, the creatures of the deep. He spoke to them and said, "The rivers, the lakes, the lagoons, the beaches, the seas, the oceans. Let them be my domain as well. You all shall protect those who voyage, those who take up the pilgrimage to meet me, upon my ascension. So take kindly to those who shall meet my face upon this now sacred land. You are now the guardians of the Yellow King's waters. Slay all who refuse to bend their knees."

And with a loud roar from the depths, and the screams and the screeches of the distorted merfolk, they all swam and scattered across the northern seas of the continent in honor of their god.

The sovereign would turn his head again back at the foot of the mountain, and begin to trek.

With each step, he felt his body burn hotter, despite the cold. He understood that there was something more to this place. He felt a familiar presence to that of when he ascended the first time. He knew that the antithesis to the golden throne was somewhere atop the mountains.

The genie looked at the Yellow King with curiosity. She asked him, "Are you gonna wish to take us up there?"

The king shook his head and said, "I have better use for a wish than to walk. I have legs, and therefore, I shall walk."

"You test my patience, king in piss colors."

"Have some respect, celestial." The king scolded. "Once the prophecy is fulfilled, I would have the power to send you home."

"What prophecy is it exactly? Is it the lie those brats told you when you were a lad? Or was it the one the townsfolk praised you back when you were mortal?" The genie interrogated whilst floating upside down.

The king in yellow stopped and began to draw a rune. Illusionary magic? Perhaps. However it revealed to them both a book. It was a book called.. 'The King in Yellow.' It was a manuscript it seems, for many pages were parchments that did not match with the paper used on the book. The book itself was wrapped in a golden silk, and a red piece of cloth was used as a bookmark. "This book. This was the madness that brought down the sultans and the kings before the christ. It was a story that had made many insane by simply reading it. The manuscripts of a play."

"That's it??!!" The genie laughed. "YOUR PROPHECY IS A CURSED PLAY BY LOVECRAFT??!"

"Perhaps it would appear as that. But what you fail to realize is that those stories came from the truth. But this story... It was my story. Though the story written by the mortal was about the occurrences around this book, the one I speak of is the book itself. This book.. I have kept it for the longest time."

"A long time ago, a man wearing a golden cloak visited me when I was a child. He whispered to me in a language I did not understand. But he offered me this book for my soul. The next morning, I awoke and saw the book at my bedside. And I know that this was the book that was spoken by the stories because I had lost it once. All the readers who have seen the contents of this book have gone mad and died. All but I."

The genie scratched her head in curiosity. She had always been interested in the stories of many, but this one, she did not know. "Can.. I read it?"

"You have insulted the prophecies written in this book. Therefore, you have insulted me. So that said, no, not yet. Perhaps when it is fulfilled, the curse upon this book will be lifted. I'll let you read it." The king gave a soft smile afterwards, then continued his march.

Beneath the ground the king had tread, monsters awoke in the caverns underground. Monsters of the dark. They scream in agony, and their shrieks echo across the crevices of the shadows. Their unseen bodies contort and malform, and twist and bend in ways that they could not and should not. One thought slowly plagued into their minds; All Hail the King in Yellow.