Interrogating the Priest of Eibon, Part 2

"The shadow of the Shoggoth is upon you and your knights, oh Prince," the Priest intoned gravely and with a hint of mocking delight. "But then you already knew that, didn't you? You have watched as, day by day, your knights have grown more bloodthirsty, more bestial. No more do they keep faith with your ideals of honor and nobility. And it is only a matter of time before you and yours are completely under the sway of the Shoggoth. You shall all be his thralls, body and soul."

Exeter looked up at the Priest with wrathful eyes but said not a word. The Priest spoke the truth. And even Exeter, a knight pure and noble, felt despair clutch at his heart.

Princess Exotica's heart was filled with anguish too, anguish for her brother. She ached to help him, to ease the burden that weighed upon him so. To give him hope. But where was hope for any of them?

"Evil will not win!" she suddenly cried out and roughly grabbed the Priest. "If what you say is true, if the Shoggoth's evil is spreading over the land poisoning everything and everyone, and the beast merely needs to wait until it shall all be his, then why does it send out its forces to slay and destroy? Why does it pit its demons and thralls against those who bravely fight on? Why fight this war at all if it has already won it? Surely it fights because it fears defeat. It fears those who valiantly resist it. Surely the forces of good do not do battle in vain!"

The Priest barked out a vile laugh and answered Exotica. "It fights and slays because, my Princess, that is what it does. That is what it revels in. The Shoggoth enjoys pain and bloodshed. But too, this war does serve another purpose. It is a training ground for its growing army of human beasts. But the lessons learned will have naught to do with the art of war. The Shoggoth cares not how many fall to the swords of men like you brother. What it wants is to scourge the people of this land until the only ones left are a mindless mob of madmen who won't even remember that they were once civilized. For you see, in the end, the true purpose of this Shoggoth is but to call forth the Last Shoggoth. And to give birth to this ultimate monster there must be a sacrifice. But killing the noble and the innocent will not feed the birth of the Shoggoth's master. No, what it needs is the very worst of humanity. And when they are all that is left, the Shoggoth shall gather them together and slay them in an orgy of blood and horror the likes of which no one has ever seen. And so shall the Last Shoggoth be born into this world."

1. Prince Exeter rises to his feet, defiance set deeply in his face

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