The Expectant Bride

 

There is a monster, cursed with an impossible pregnancy, fated to die in agonizing pain - unless it can violate someone else to fulfill its needs, before its procreational doom impends.

Desperate to give birth, the gynachid (K:DL 302) has pried its way into Elysium and now wanders the nightly city streets in search of a suitable surrogate mother.

 

Sniffling and groaning under its breath, it is able to smell human women who are young and strong enough to carry its infant to term, and seeks them out when they're alone and vulnerable.
When it finds a suitable victim, it approaches her, sobbing and crying and gesturing for help.

In the Illusion the creature appears like a frail young woman clad in a white wedding dress, complete with veil, gloves, shoes etc, but worringly frayed and torn in places, and stained with mud and grime. She looks beautiful but also scared under her silky sheer veil, and is evidently highly pregnant. She speaks only in slurred words and animalistic groans. It may sound like the woman is intoxicated, mentally challenged, or in the grips of a deep shock. She is also clearly in pain, intermittently writhing and shivering with cramps, and indicates her own swollen belly as the cause.

When comforted or asked how she could be helped, The Expectant Bride will whimper and meekly point to the direction of a lonely alleyway, shadowy building entrance, or some badly lit underpass. She will also allow a would-be helper to take her into her car, or another secluded place nearby. If the victim seems hesitant, the gynachid may try to indicate fear of an unseen pursuer, begging with mewling pleas to be taken to some sort of safety. 

As soon as she is alone with the victim however, it hastens to initiate its grotesque and violating impregnation process. A perverse distortion of the consummation of marital vows, the necessity of which humankind itself has inflicted upon the creature, once upon Times Immemorial.

It is only when it pulls back its veil and takes off its dress to start doing this, that the creature's true appearance is revealed to the victim. Even if she is not shocked into a paralyzed stupor by this very sight, and manages to run from the monster, her chances of escape are minimal against the desperate, inhuman Bride.

Her chances of survival however, are in fact very high - both in the short and long term. The gynachid wants to avoid killing the future mother of its infant at almost any cost. And even in the future, once the impregnation has been successfully completed, it will follow her around unseen, watching from beyond the Illusion to ensure the surrogate mother's continued health.

Powerful Leaps: The creature can cross a considerable distance in a single instant. [Able to move from Distance: Room to Distance: Arm and can act before the PC has a chance to react or withdraw.]

Grab and hold someone [1] [Distance: Arm, victim must Act under Pressure to wrench loose]

Paralyzing terror [*] [Distance: Room, victim must Keep it Together or freeze up defenselessly for the remainder of the scene]

Long arms ending in broken claws [2] [Distance: Arm, when attacked or enraged the creature's vicious rakes are at -1 to Avoid Harm against]

Wounds: O O O O O X

(image is copyright Brahim Bensehoul @ ibralui-art, no infringements allowed nor intended)

The Oasis at Finger Rocks

Once again I got inspired by an image that was shared on the Discord group Kult: Elysium. This one was made by user rosedragon, a talented and incredibly prolific visual artist whose works can be enjoyed here: https://www.deviantart.com/rosedragoness

This picture just spoke to me on a deep level. I sensed there was a story in there somewhere. So I sat down to look at it for a while, and wrote one of my shred fiction pieces for it.

  

"When wandering Limbo, and travelling through dreams of loneliness, corrosion, or unfulfilled cravings, one may well find themselves unexpectedly expelled from one of them - as it happens - and stumbling out here, into the Desert of Desolation.

Nothing here but thirst and seeking, and the occasional, yet ever-crumbling spot of poisonous hope. Such as the Oasis at Finger Rocks. Its clear waters are precious in this lifeless waste, soothing scorched throats - but you should never drink too much. All too soon, if you do, the oily sludge murking its depths will well up to despoil the shallow layers of clear, wholesome liquid on top. 

Many a dream wanderer has fallen to that place's treacherous toxicity, yet no bodies or even skeletons are ever found laying next to that pool. Some say the poison affects their minds such that they are compelled to plunge themselves into the waters - their mortal remains becoming decomposed and sinking down as murky particles, themselves renewing the murderous nethersludge they so foolishly partook of. 

For me, it's different however. Permanently banished to Limbo, with no physical body back home in my bed to wake up to, I inevitably ended up here of course, as so many others do. But having been marked by the dark powers long ago, and become more infernal machine than biological man ever since, I crave the very oils and venoms of this place for sustenance. The clear water would corrode my gears and dissolve my filter-valves, killing me more surely than the heat and exhaustion. 

Fortunately, the hose has long become a fixed part of me, permanently fused to the mechanical mask where my face once used to be - so long ago, in the dimly-remembered life I led before this new existence I must now endure..."

The Lake

Here is another picture, this one posted by user Gabe on the Kult - Elysium Discord server.
I captioned it with what I thought must be the story behind it.



 "Even as a little kid, when I would feel bad, I would like to go stand by the shore of the lake and envy my mirror image down below the waves. I always wanted to be where it was, down there where its quiet and peaceful and the worst thing that happens to you is that the wind ripples up the surface and you can't see out for a short little while. 

I never realized that when I would finally go down there, I wouldn't replace it - I would join it. Now there's two of us down here and none of us up there any more. I've always wanted a brother... but now I have something even better!"

The Baron's Bastard Daughter

Here is a picture that user junneh posted on the Kult - Elysium Discord server.





The question was brought up what the hell might be going on there, so I opened my senses to the Truth beyond the Veil, let my mind drift through the Abyss of Time, and discovered the only logical explanation.

* * *

Many would have thought the baron's bastard daughter utterly mad for her vicious endeavors - but her father sensed there might just be a spark of promise behind her depraved ramblings and murderous desires. Had it not, after all, been his own late mother who had spoken the prophecy in her dying hours? And now his illegitimate offspring reminded him so much of her ever since she had come of age... 

"There will be born a babe of man, who shall not break when smitten with hammers and shall not scorch when kissed by flames. This child shall be the second coming of our lord and saviour, and those who find and rear it as their own shall know much blessings, and be gifted with wisdoms beyond the scope of mortal men." 

 What could it hurt, the baron thought. Children were many in his realm, and more would always yet be born. And if she should, indeed, find the one... So he closed his ears against the tiny screams echoing from her chamber daily, and sent out his knights anew, to fetch more newborns from the lands. She would soon be out of babes again, and could develop an insufferable temper if not allowed to pursue her sacred destiny. Just like mother always had...

The Illusion

This picture was made by Petter Nallo early on during the development of the new edition of Kult: Divinity Lost.

It describes The Illusion in a visually powerful way.

And here I translated the texts therein with the help of Basilides Thelema, in order to allow the Illusion to crumble that much faster, and this darkly beautiful pic to attain a wider range of audiences:

This is humankind's prison, in which so many of us are such willing participants.  But the prison is falling apart, a little more each day.

Now that we have shown you the Truth, only one question remains: What will you do with it?