Pillars of Eternity-prose.

[s13ep]

The following are pieces of my own writing that were influenced by Pillars of Eternity.

 

Chapter 1

 

You find yourself sat down on a road in an empty town next to a small fire that you're using to keep warm. Upended in the central district, that you can just see over the tops of houses, is a burned and blackened fort that ebbs, and creeks, every so often, as the wind passes by. You think "the town is made fuller by it's presence" but others do not agree.

 

You lend an ear to listen to sounds of victory that you hear from deep within the fort, and they capture your heart. You walk carefully towards the music, passing broken houses and skeletal remains outside them. As soon as the fort is in full view, you are left blinded and dazed by a sudden flash of light, that you raise your arms to evade the worst of. A few seconds later, you let down your guard, your eyes slowly regain focus, and you see down on the ground in front of you, a moving red flush. You look up at the fort, and it is up in flames; the music, now clearer and wilder than before. 

 

As you approach the fort's arched entrance, in front of you appears a silhouette with similar composition. You immediately pull your arms to your sides, and the shade follows suit. You walk left somewhat, but to your surprise the shadow walks right, and as you turn your head to examine it, it begins to aimlessly sneak around the archway before another, closer, flash, blinds your view. The silhouette still bold among the bright light, as the scene slowly fades to black.

 

Chapter 2

 

You awaken in the midst of a vast field of green, and light-colours, and looking around you notice that the area is filled with many different kinds of flowers that're all blossoming gracefully. It seems as if there is more white than green, but when you concentrate, you confirm that there is more green. You stop looking around, passing the Sun once as you walk onward with a focused look on your face; but then you stop walking, suddenly, because in the distance of every direction is forest, and night is soon upon you. A brief moment after you had stopped, the Sun sets, and as it does the field seemingly gets smaller and the forests bigger, and closer, until they are at the tip of your feet. You are swept backwards onto the ground that you land on with a jolt and a thud. Hard dirt crumbles up from deep underground all around and beneath you; you look at all the trees as they twist themselves into existence, cautious but impressed; and then suddenly, the vicinity goes dark - you cannot see.

 

Things start to crawl up your legs; crazed squeaking and hissing noises make it so you cannot hear. Your smile fades quickly, and you jump around, kicking and punching the air. When most of them are off of you, you run, and when you do the noises get quieter, and further away, and you do not look like you're going to stop. Rays of light beam through the tree tops far ahead of your position. You stop and examine, but immediately after a violent scream sounds from a few steps back, and the light retreats leaving you in darkness as you turn to face your fears.

 

Chapter 3

 

You feel a brush of wind against your neck; your eyes open slightly and you move around, stretching, and turning your body and head asymmetrically, before you realize you are in bed, tired and dreamy. A second later, another brush of wind flurries against the back of your head, that's a lot more forceful this time; it pulls away and gusts back as a gnawing feeling accompanied by a gnawing sound, that seems to be coming from your head. It's as if you are being eaten, but it's effect is as soft as the wind was.

 

You know in yourself that you're dreaming, but you're unusually paranoid; dark thoughts plague your mind as the biting continues, you think "it's too serene to be a nightmare".

 

You try to wake up, but to your dismay, you can't. You try even harder, putting your weight into it, and manage to break out of the dream state; your upper body shoots forward and you are wide awake briefly, the dream had taken your breath away.

 

A rush of confidence comes over you, you're tired, and you decide to go back to sleep.

 

When you drift off, you awaken once again in the same room, in the same bed, with the same gnawing wind, but this time, it has a voice that sounds like a childhood rival of yours. After every bite or two, it laughs at you and has a violent outburst, however, it quickly gets calmer, making it bearable. You stop looking at the window, feeling brave enough to examine the wind, and then commit to it, but nothing is there - as you turn your head back around, on the floor is the rival of yours, primal and naked.

 

Chapter 4

 

You near the end of a path that leads to a cliffs-edge, expelled from the land and welcomed by the skies and waters a long time ago. You peer over the edge at the cold ocean that waits below as wave upon wave crashes into the bottom of the escarpment. You lean back and retrieve from your pants, a journal, one that's touch is enough to make you heartfelt. 

 

You open the journal hastily, running your forefinger across a few messily written lines on the first page, and as you reach the end, it shuts tight, evading your grip to then float awkwardly in mid-air. With a hunters gaze, you watch intently as it begins to quake with energy, releasing wild illustrations of vibrant colours in the air that encircles you. 

 

From behind you hear someone approach with staggered steps. You turn around, your back foot half-on the cliffs-edge now, and your sights on a man holding a pistol in his right that's aimed at your chest. He shoots, and before you can do anything a bullet hits you.

 

You scan your chest, expecting a bloody wound, but instead is a blur of colours and shades that's transfigured with your skin and muscles. You look at the man with a confident smirk, before leaning back over the edge to check the landscape below.

 

Many forces come over you at once, and you are surrounded by a love you've never felt before. You lean peacefully over the edge - bending slightly and springing from it; you begin to fall toward the ocean. Your body a chaotic abstraction as it falls, exchanging wrathful animal expressions, and emotions, with nobody.

 

As you near the bottom of the jump, your body centers itself just in time, and you slow a little, taking flight, before soaring toward the horizon.

 

Chapter 5

 

You find yourself on a see-through sundial about four times your size, amidst endless waters - which appear as a lens unto the unknown. You shut your eyes and by some force it's as if they are still open, fixated on the clear sky of the horizon. You hear a siren sound, and a brush of tiredness comes over you. In moments, you fall to the ground - your eyelids still burned up.

 

You see an image of yourself from above, led on the small dial. You are wearing nothing, but the image of a black and a white clothed-self cross your mind as you try to focus. Suddenly the picture shakes, and the physics appear broken for a second, before your imagination sweeps in and you perceive yourself from a new angle, one that is hinting you look at your own eyes.

 

As you continue lost in thought, water splashes on the surface behind your dreaming self, creating imagery in harmony. A rush of power comes over you and you begin to witness the expanse change form and time with in-depth transitions. For a few seconds you imagine one specific scene, and then you hold onto it.

 

You feel absolute freedom of imagination, seeing yourself from any angle, with any environment, object or subject, and of a form of your choosing. You start to imagine yourself as different characters you know of, and they bring back the fondest memories, the landscape remains unaltered. 

 

Your eyes flicker open and shut, and you switch between one scene and the next, where a blurred hot light blazes in your vision. As you regain the will to see, you turn your head to avoid a gaze directly into the sunlight, before standing up on your feet and sweating in the heat of the setting Sun.

[s13ep]

Here is the edited version of Chapter 5, the rest need to be edited somewhat,

 

You find yourself on a see-through sundial about four times your size, amidst endless waters in every direction - which appear as a lens of perception. You shut your eyes and by some force it's as if they are still open, fixated on the clear sky of the horizon. You hear a siren sound, and a brush of tiredness comes over you. In moments, your poise is sundered and you fall to the ground - your eyelids still burned up.

You see an image of yourself from above, led on the dial. You are wearing nothing, but the image of man dressed in black cross your mind as you try to focus. Suddenly your vision shakes, and the physics appear broken for a second, before your imagination sweeps in and you perceive yourself from a new angle, in full view, your head turned awkwardly to the side, faced at the eye in the skies.

As you continue lost in thought, water splashes up from the surface behind your dreaming self, creating imagery in harmony with what you think; as it does, rushes of power come over you, and you begin to watch the expanse change form and time with in-depth transitions. For a few seconds you imagine a specific place, and then you hold onto the thought.

You feel absolute freedom of imagination here, envisioning yourself from any angle, with any object or subject, and of a form of your choice. You think of all the characters you know of and you imagine them to see them appear - the landscape remains the same.

 

Your eyes flicker open and shut, and you switch between one scene and the next, where a blurred hot light blazes in your vision. As you regain the will to see, you turn your head to avoid a gaze directly into the sunlight, before standing up on your feet and sweating in the heat of day.

 

Chapter 6

 

You see a soldier in full leather body armour, modern styled, with a gas mask in unison; he walks around near a window, waiting for someone; each move he makes generates a click sound as the hydraulics in his gear relax and contract. He is holding a machine gun that looks to be of a grand design.

 

Out the window is a street, the apartment fifty foot above ground and across from it is a weak bend in the road. A man walks by and the solider pulls his trigger finger up to his ear, pressing something that makes a click sound.

 

The area behind and around the solider is in shadows, the only light comes through the window, creating a conical bright spot. You hear a muffled voice coming from the his ear, "Get him".

 

Like a shot the soldier brings his gun up to eye level, the dust of the room rising with it, and he aims it through the window at a man on the street - you see a red dot creep up his back and stop on the left side, but to your surprise another red dot moves up his back and stops on the right.

 

With angel wings of design his is unaware of, the man walks onward a step, before two long brown bullets ripple through the air, at ground level and out of the window, it seems as if time slows for second, and then they impale through his head and heart at full speed. The man drops dead, brains and blood splattered everywhere. 

 

A few days pass, all that remains is the outline of the dead man; all other evidence was removed from the scene. A few confused forensic experts move in and out of the light of the apartment while the noise of police cars sound in the streets outside.

 

Chapter 7

 

You are in a dream you are unaware of only because you are drunk; the night was spirited and colorful, you hopped clubs until now where you stand in between two families as they fight in a bar situated in the big town you're in. Men on both sides exchange punches; glasses are smashed over heads, and alcohol is spilled everywhere - the crowd watches, roaring to the scent of blood in the air.

 

You walk outside, a little disorientated, and outside in the streets is the essence of someone you recognize. A demon, chaotic with with a glitch in her stride. She haunts the even the bravest people. Once tiny egos, commit heinous crimes and are now infamous among the gangs on the streets - a pandemonium driven by her fear.

 

A short walk down the town and you are at a house, you turn around to find that the location you had just walked from has gone - a roadway and a pathway leading around the back of this house are the only things not clouded by mist. You walk along the path, and round the back to a garden with white fencing and hedges. You see a lady twitching and flinching so much it hurts to look, so you don't, but you edge closer every second. You steps seem shorter and you hear the woman slowing down, everything seems to be getting calmer.

 

Now within reaching distance of this woman, as you can tell by looking at her feet, you raise your head from chest-level and look her directly in the eye. She has a petrified look, and she is looking directly back at you, mouth and eyes wide open; it makes you scream inside trying to understand how she became how she is now. You turn and run back along the pathway, and as you reach the road, you see the town back to normal, and you are where you should have been when you stopped by the house earlier.

 

Feeling brave, you take one look back at the house to see if you're being followed, and it has faded away, replaced by shops and clubs.

Edited June 10, 2015 by s13ep