The Epic Poem of the Great House
This story was written by me and help from my friend Jon over a few months, possibly a year. It was originaly a joke but obviously became a much more serious story. It is yet to be finished but check back every so often becuase I occasionaly update it (Remember not to get your hopes up either. I may never work on it again. Its crazy!) Tell me what you think of it so far.. I would love some feedback on it. You have to at least give me credit for putting a line break after every single line.
The King
In a large sandy continent, on an empty planet, sat a house
A great house
A house that towered to the sky and dove into the gray-red clouds
In this house Evil lay
Down
Past the immense Gates that lined it’s unadorned concrete foundation
Past the once faultless halls, now grimy and dim, lined with sand and brush
Past the flooded murky maze of the lower levels
Down deep into the black stained chambers
Down to the spiraling smog of the under levels
Down, deep into the catacomb of the Abysmal
Down, deep where furnaces burn ceaselessly
Down, where the brave have feared and died
Down where Evil skulks
Beyond a black tower
Beneath the immense ceiling that covers the stone floor
Past the hideous creatures that dwell within
Sits a throne
Of thorns and woe
Sits a King
A Sovereign of the Abysmal
A creature too hateful and conniving to be an animal
Too fierce and imposing to be a man
A lord of all he desires
There he sits
Plotting
Sneering of his victories
His conquest of the weak
The dwellers of the house
So enwrapped in his hate
So coiled by the fear of happiness
Never truly happy
Never awake
Never asleep
The tormenter and the tormented
On his black throne of woe
He wallows in his own turmoil
He grins only for the fraught of others
He is all that is dire
He is the personification of abhorrence
He is what satisfies his urge to destroy that which he has lost.
The King
Deep in the desert and endless wastes lands
The house lay alone
Secluded
The house towered up the sky
Encircled by the eternal barren
The unforgiving desert
A place of Mystery
A colossus dark shadow on the horizon
Its sight fills the most apathetic with awe
Planks of rotted boards reveal stone work of intricate and perfected detail
Revealed beyond is a concrete stone
Stronger then what men can destroy
This was planned
All of it was
Eons before
They knew
The planners knew
They where the first
They saw the desert and beasts that roamed it
They saw the oceans and its empty jaws
Waiting to swallow men in
And they looked down and saw the men
They saw the men tremble and weep
They saw how men held goodness in their hearts
How they held creation in their minds
They knew men where not like the other beasts
So they set out to construct a house
A home for these interesting creatures to find solace
The two Planners set out to this task
One
Wise and steadfast built the house to the blue sky
The Second
Mindful of the weather and strong willed burrowed down
Deep to strength of the solid soil
The two Planners worked
The One
Climbed to the sky
Filling the house with vast chambers and long halls
The Second
Furiously hollowed down into the stony earth
Working against the angry rock and granite
Nearing completion the Planners reveled in their work
And the First built unto himself a crown like no other
Fashioned of Gold and the Materials of Light
And as he built upwards towards the heavens,
The crown did flash brilliantly in the natural light
The Second scorned the Crown for the wasted time
Calling him vain
And fashioned a tool of night
That he might not rest
A weapon to combat the dark things he found living in the deep
And he continued his digging
Deep
Deep into the dark of the soil
And the One continued upward
Higher and wider he did build
Rooms upon rooms filled the gargantuan scope of his tower
Rooms with ceilings that stretched too high to fathom
Rooms with space that stretched for miles
Rooms to sleep
Rooms to eat
Rooms to run
Rooms with massive basins of water
Where it did sit in stone carved canals
And the Second spoke up to the One
And he said he too needed water
And the One spoke down from his high tower
And he realized that they must convey the water
So he built a great system of piping and channels to deliver the water
And the Second burrowed deeper
And deeper
Until he reached the hot steam and water that lay dormant
And made great steel caps to harness them
And soon water rushed throughout the house
And the Underground grew hot with steam
And soon beasts poured from the caverns of the depths
And the Second called out to the One but he was unheard in the deep
And so the Second used his great scepter
And did destroy them all
But soon the Second grew wary of more creatures
So he forged unto himself a great armor
Armor black as the soil and endless caverns so none may see him
Armor lined with thorns so none may touch him
Armor that coated his very being so that none could reach beneath it
And unto this Armor he too did make a crowned helm to show his great power
A crown of spines and blades
A crown to show his power over that which tried to harm him
A glorious crown of sharp edges and black
High atop the towers the One looked down and worried for his friend
But he continued undaunted finishing his grand creation
And the two sat in their kingdoms
The two Kingdoms under one roof
And they sat
The Corrupted
Deep in the pits that lay beneath the house
Deep beyond the ornate passageways of the house
Down in caverns of stone
Down where he lives
In the gray and black of the dust and chasms that spiral down to beyond
There he sat waiting
Waiting
Waiting for ages
Waiting for The One to call him back up
Waiting to be praised for his magnificent addition
He knew that none cared
All he had now was the Caverns
In the dark he labored for centuries
Crafting a great web of passageways and vaulted chambers
Crafting a glorious throne suitable for a king
Always knowing
Always thinking of how happy The One must be
He must be mocking him
He must have forgotten of the house and abandoned him
Surely he must be dead
He thought to himself
After the horrors he had discovered in the dark
Surely the One must have found some unholy beast
And that crown
The beautiful glowing crown
He could never obtain such a marvelous thing
He knew
He knew that forever he was to be banished in the deep
And so there he sat
Dwelling on his qualms
As though every fearful thought in his head was the truth
And he sat
The Dwellers
Into the house the men came
They saw that it held shelter
They saw that it held water
They saw the crops plentiful and free
And they came
They praised their gods in rejoice
They found homes and made families
They cried out that support had come
And they came
They argued over the many lands
They drew out parts to be their own
They fought for the riches of within
They banded together to fight off brothers and fathers
They killed to secure that which they did not need
They wallowed in the endless bounty of the house and demanded more
They spared no innocent
Let free none that passed them
The strong reigned tyrannically
The week lived in terror
Never changing
Over centuries never changing
And with the ebb of time the house's glory did begin to fall short
The walls grew gray and bleak
Soil collected in the once beautiful halls
Fauna grew from the soil
Beasts gathered at the fauna
Men fled and vacant areas bred wilderness within
Down into the deep chaos spread rampant
Pipes burst and floods seized chambers
The beasts that dwelled there where craven and wicked
The fauna that vines and suffocated grew fiercely
Closing paths and blinding sight
The scared and poor fled there
Hoping they would find abysmal consolation
The men divided and war seized them
And they crawled deeper and deeper
Into the abyss
The Enlightened
The First stood under glorious expanse
Surveying all that he had built
He did not yet know of the people in the floors below
Nor the fate of he who lurked in dark
And was content in his creation
He admired the glimmer of light
As it bounced from his crown
And the impossible expanse of floor before him
Here at last was visible the roof though high above
And were it another standing there
They would sense it's height as one does the horizon
Thought the First "The dwelling hath been created, yet all is not finished"
And indeed Fate had yet to play out the last of their spool
As was soon seen
For from the depths came a whisper
A sigh against the wind
The first did cock his head towards it
And verily came to realize that it was the sounds of war
The Crown thought to rest
For he was very tired indeed after his toil
But found he could not
For every time he laid down his head, the sound came to him.
Sounds of fighting
Of steel clashing with steel
Of Slaughter
Of Torture
Of War
And the Crown finally did seek to end the conflict
For he knew that the Great House would be torn down
And he would fall from the filament
The Crown stepped from his land
Taking care to keep it secured behind him
And saw that there were few that had ventured to his height
Being many hundred floors still below
Yet their footsteps echoed in the empty
And it was to these that the Crown did go
The travelers were weary
And bedraggled
Having fled the destruction of the lower levels
And did want naught but to stop it
Before the First they told of the petty differences that had begun
And the retaliation that had continued
And of the innocents crushed in the middle
And the Crown did take pity upon them
And said "Yea, then let ye live amongst me and my peace
For ye have traveled far and are surely in need of rest."
And the travelers
Being grateful
Did pledge their lives by sacred oath to the silence of the upper floors
And it was as true
For more did soon appear
And more
And they did hold reverent quarter in the upper floors
And the Crown did favor them above all others
At last the Crown did sleep, yet it was troubled by horrors.
In his dream, he did see the dark.
The dark of the deep
And behind his closed eyes he did view a great throne.
Glowing black in the night
And upon the throne sat the Second
Yet he was changed by his work.
Armor glimmering against the abyss
And the Crown did awaken with a great fear upon him
Fear both for his friend and his followers
And did realize that he had abandoned his fellow Craftsman
And so sent followers
Bearing the emblem of his glory
His crown, to the deep
Whether beasts
Or the war
Or mere peril
The group did vanish from sight
So the followers of the Crown had but vast speculation to offer the First when he came
And they related a tale of the Second's fell wrath
And how each member of the party had perished at his hands
So that the Crown did despair for reconcilement
And the two fell into seclusion
The Forgotten
As time passed
As the people anguished
As days and years became one shadow of loss
The Great Planners sat befallen by their once grand creation
Time did pass and they where soon forgotten by the beginning
Trapped in the world of men
Bound in demi-mortal bodies
Their powers fading
Their influence weaning
They too began to forget
And lingered in their grand chambers
Growing and creating unto their own
And The One sat amongst his noble followers
And spoke to them and their begotten
And told to them the ways of the light
And spoke soundly for what he spoke was both wise and truth
His Glorious Crown sparkled and shined
His face sightless from man in radiant light
His form was that of his wisdom and soul
Immersed in the glowing light of his towers
Draped in the splendor of his creation
The Second
Bathed in the coal black of his tomb
Scowled and scorned all that befell him
His soul wrought with anger and agony
Twisted and corrupted was he
A great fortress he carved from his cavernous tomb
Within he dwelled and guarded it unwaveringly
For monsters of the deep struck fear in his empty heart
He no longer looked like a glorious creator of splendor
But more of the monsters he feared
The misfortune lay unto creatures that dare disturb him
They never again saw beyond his catacomb of passageways
Never again saw the basement’s beyond
The Second knew that none may know of him
For they would surely defeat him
And fear devoured his heart
The Darkness
The second
The Fearful
The Lord of the Deep
The Scepter
He dwelt deep in his caverns
He lingered alone
Scorning his old companion
Scorning the hideous men
They tricked him as well
For ages he crafted the fine halls and tunnels
And ornately and skillfully he did craft them
The men offered no thanks
They simply let if fester and age
They did not see his great triumph
Only another land to claim there own
His thoughts turned and seethed
He recoiled in disgust and The Second let forth a scream
A scream that pierced the dark and stone
A scream that echoed in a man’s soul
And riddled him with dire dread
A scream of agony and hate
And as he screamed his hate consumed him
His eyes burned white hot
And black smoke poured from every breach of his thorny armor
And his horrific shriek was heard in every bend of the endless house
Every creature froze with dread
The One high above all else
Upon his throne heard the wretched cry
And knew that his worries had been true
And his friend had fallen into darkness
The Lord of the Deep rose out of his dark cavern
He stood proud and tall
In his hand he grasped his Scepter
Like a black tempest he marched forth
The ground quaked with his every step
And the walls groaned about him
He marched ever forward
Up out of his caves
Destruction and death followed him
His force left none standing
With screams of un-hallowed rage
Settlement, town, and city fell as ashes to the wind
Fire furled about him and cruel winds engulfed him
He struck down armies without regard or question
None survived that crossed his path
None escaped
And with every floor up
His contempt grew
And with every floor up
He neared the exit of his caverns
And with every floor up
Man edged to doom
And the Screams echoed
Sonnet of the Warriors
And the Crown
In his vaulted chamber
Heard from the deep the screams
For thirty days they echoed,
As townships fell from Scepter's wrath
The Crown was troubled,
But could do naught,
For he had sworn to protect all among him
In his demesnes
And so he sat
Followers saw the anguish of their liege,
And sought to aid him as they could
And so a group of hardy men,
Well fed,
Well built,
Well blessed,
Formed from the tokens of the First
Artifacts of his might.
Relics to drive back the dark,
And guard them in unnatural night
Eight there were, and shall always be:
One to lead, with compassion and clarity
One to command, with justice and honesty
Two with sword, where tongue cannot prevail
Two with bow, where sword won't swiftly hail
Two with pike, so these last should not fail.
In Circlets, an emblem of the Crown's call
Garbed in armor of gold, For None May Fall
Eight there were, and shall always be.
The Guardians
Hate swarmed
Pestilence did reap its rewards
Men ran alike as kings and poor from the dark storm that rose from the deep
The terror never stopping
Never sleeping
Only pushing onward his wake of ruin
In the heart of the bewilderment and anguish
From the words of the hopeless and lost
Word came of eight men
Eight men armed for combat and glorious as the sun’s halo
Eight travelers as brave and bold that they set to face the fumes and screams
Some say they were as tall as trees and draped in linen robes
Others say they were clad in armor made from gold and precious belongings of the earth
Others yet say they were not men but gods
Set down on man to save them
Or perchance foretell the very end of time
Many had a grand story to tell of the travelers
But only few saw and knew
Only few saw the eight as they neared the great Iron City
The last city before the gates to the desert
The gates that held the life of the dwellers
The gates and only way out should disaster fall
Only a few saw them gallantly march to the city gates and hold unmoving
They drew no sword
And knocked no arrows
They waited still as statues
They waited
From the utmost reaches of sight smoke crawled
The ground trembled
The ceiling soaring above rumbled
From the dark came an echo and boom
A roar that burned and tore the winds
The smoke came closer and closer and closer still
Until its ethereal black tendrils curled and wisped at their feet
But the Eight did not move
They did not stir
The soot filled air stopped
And hung in the air as though it knew not where to go
Holding at the city gates
Piercing the coal black wall shined a set of eyes
The blight of the worlds
Glowing as fiery embers
The ominous orbs of light stalked in the dark
Glared out with orange light of a thousand furnaces
The Eight stood resolute
The creature stared into them with contempt as it lay cloaked in wrappings of darkness
“Friend”
Spoke one of the Eight whom spoke stately and clear
“Bring not this war on men further.”
“Tread thy hate away and let none be struck down by your fell wrath”
At these words the very smoke about the wicked thing cringed as though assaulted
Then unfurling like ungodly wings
The Creature screamed as fire and black poured from within
In an instant the Terror showed himself
A creature of enormous size of black iron and thorns
A creature hunched like a beast and gripping a great pointed scepter
A creature that himself was as a monument to unrighteousness
A King of the Abysmal
His weapon arched above then came down upon the quickly drawn blades of the Eight
Fire and smoke consumed all as the Creature swung wildly at the men
Arrow flew straight and sword set deep
The battle stormed
Pikes pressed on
The Horror roared
Arrows flew
Blackness swallowed
Swords held sturdily
Flames burned white
The howls boomed into the deep
The battle stormed
For twelve days the battle kept
For twelve days the King of the Deep did fiercely strike
For twelve days the Eight pushed the Evil back to whence it came
Until it crawled back to its caverns
Back beneath the caverns of the Great House
Back to his tunnels and darkness
Until all was done
The eight stood victorious
One to lead
One to command
Two with sword
Two with bow
Two with Pike
Eight there were, and shall always be
To be continued...
How do you like the story so far?
E-Mail me here with feedback.Remember the fact I put a page break after everyline by hand *ouch!*
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