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    Postfest V, Part III: The Krakens: Puppetmasters of the Ocean
    Posted on Sun, September 11, 2005 by Dongul
    CruelSummerLord writes "I am all that is. I am all that ever was. I am all that there will ever be. This world is mine to do with as I will. I am the master, you are my puppets. That is the way of the world, as Panzuriel decreed.

    The Krakens: Puppetmasters of the Ocean
    By: CruelSummerLord
    Posted with permission. Do not repost without obtaining prior permission from the author.

    …Heartbeat…

    It was all Pontopiddan could apparently hear…or thought he heard. The fires of light and the waters of darkness were his whole world, his single memory. His life above, the light of the sun, and even who he was as a human were but fading memories. They flickered in and out of his mind like the cold of the waters, the one distraction he could hope for from those evilly glowing eyes and the endless, echoing rhythm in his mind…

    Heartbeat…

    Osprem, why have you abandoned me? Whatever troubled me as I sailed against the Sea Barons, my faith in you kept me strong. I was strong, healthy and alive. Now my throat is dry, my heart sluggish, my hands and feet numb. I am so cold…oh Osprem, so cold! Where are you? Why can you not hear me…?

    …Heartbeat…

    Pontopiddan was revived by the crushing feeling around his torso. The murky waters were only lit by those hellish fires that surrounded him, and those eyes, born from the pits of Tarterus themselves…Oh Osprem, those eyes!

    …Heartbeat…

    “What are you?” Pontopiddan screamed at the hideous thing that enveloped him. He had heard the legends of the “demons of the deep”, always laughed at them. Now one of them had taken him alive…which was more than could be said for many of his friends. Their chests of gold, others like him, and more were enveloped in the creature’s tentacles.

    …Heartbeat…

    It had struck in the middle of the night, glowing with fairy-fire like something out of a Sea Baron’s most deluded nightmares. Pontopiddan’s ship, sailing out of Duxchan, had plundered the Sea Baron vessel for a fortune in gold and silver. The crew were so thrilled, so ecstatic that they grew careless, caught up in their victory over the old enemy. The winds blew them off course, the thunderstorm wrecked their vessel. Then the hellishly-glowing eyes…oh Osprem, those eyes…rose from the storm-ridden depths as its tentacles appeared against the storm-ridden skies...smashing their vessel and dragging them into the depths…

    …Heartbeat…

    The creature seemed to finally notice Pontopiddan screaming at it. Its hideous mouth opened, the gnarled tongue hissing and drooling as it tried to form human speech. Pontopiddan could swear it was laughing…or am I going mad…?

    …Heartbeat…

    “You awaken…” the creature gasped. “Do you not know who I am, puppet? What is your destiny? Do you not know that I am the master, and you are mine, to do with as I please?”

    …Heartbeat…

    Pontopiddan was only half-conscious, but he was fully aware of those demonic eyes staring at him, and the attempts the monster made to speak. Its name forced its way into his mind, flashing even as the images of his wife and young son, the family he would never see again, appeared unbidden.
    “You are…kraken,” Pontopiddan gasped. “You…destroyed my ship. And we are now beneath the waves. You did all this…with your magic and your power…”

    …Heartbeat…

    “You are a wise puppet…” the kraken leered. “Yes...it is my magic. The weather and winds of the seas are mine to control. I make my body glow with fairy-fire,” the kraken laughed, “ to put fear into my puppets and teach them proper respect for their master. I am unto a god over these waters, for I can control their temperature, and make them breathable for my puppets. I am a caring master for my puppets...” the kraken gurgled with laughter. The water became cold as ice, then hot as the sun, all at the kraken’s whim.

    …Heartbeat…

    All for one second.

    …Heartbeat…

    It caused Pontopiddan’s mind to flash again…or am I just going mad? Osprem, why won’t you help me?

    …Heartbeat…

    “What…will you do with me?” the man asked.
    “You will fulfill the role you have been destined to carry out,” the kraken answered.
    “And what is that?” Pontopiddan asked.
    “The role as my puppet,” the kraken answered calmly.

    …Heartbeat…

    Osprem, please? Where are you when I need you???

    …Heartbeat…

    I am trapped! I cannot escape! Trapped beneath the seas in the arms of…Osprem, please! I cannot bear this!

    …Heartbeat…

    “Why are you doing this?” Pontopiddan screamed. “What do you mean, I am your puppet? Why do you-“
    “Such foolish emotions,” the kraken snarled. “Most unbecoming of a puppet.” The kraken tightened its grip on Pontopiddan, and he fell silent, nearly blacking out.
    “I shall explain it to you, then,” the kraken explained. “My destiny is that of the master of the seas. Yours is the destiny of the puppet. That is the way it always has been, the way it always shall be, and the way it is meant to be.”
    “I…I don’t understand…” Pontopiddan shook his head. “Tell me.”

    …Heartbeat…

    …Why do I want him to explain this...?
    …Have I lost hope?...
    …What is hope anymore?...

    …Heartbeat…

    “In the days long past, our lord Panzuriel created us to rule over what you call Oerth,” the kraken explained. “He created other beings as well, beings that we would use as puppets to extend our grasp from the seas to the coasts, the lands, and unto the whole Oerth to use as our own. But our puppets would not listen. They tried to break from our whims…”
    “…P-puppets? What are you saying?” Pontopiddan gasped, falling into delirium.
    “That is the only reason you exist, to serve as my puppet. The only reason I exist is to control all within my reach. My people are unto as gods, meant to rule over our puppets, but our puppets rebelled. Usurping deities, jealous of great Panzuriel’s power, stole our puppets from us,” the kraken rasped.
    “Wh-what will you do with your…puppets?” Pontopiddan gasped. His life was falling away, thinking of the world he might never see again. Osprem! Osprem! I have lost you…

    …Heartbeat…

    “You exist to serve me,” the kraken answered. “My people use our powers given to us by Panzuriel to take back what is rightfully ours, also given to us by Panzuriel. We return to my home in the depths, where you shall join the rest of my puppets. You will serve my whims, mend my wounds, breed and produce more puppets, you will live your life for me, as you were always meant to do…”

    …Heartbeat…

    Oh Osprem, I am truly lost…all Pontopiddan could see glaring at him in his fevered brain were those eyes-Osprem, the eyes!-glowing with dark-blue fire. All else, except for the kraken glowing with fairy-fire, was darkness.

    …Heartbeat…

    He could not escape the kraken.

    …Heartbeat…

    The kraken was his only means of support.

    …Heartbeat…

    The kraken provided his light.

    …Heartbeat…

    The kraken provided his food.

    …Heartbeat…

    All that he had left that were his own were his body and mind.

    …Heartbeat…

    But how much of value will they be for me? "
     
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    Re: Postfest V, Part III: The Krakens: Puppetmasters of the Ocean (Score: 1)
    by Mystic-Scholar on Sat, October 03, 2009
    (User Info | Send a Message) http://mysticscholar.blogspot.com/
    The article continually repeated "those eyes" but the description of the eyes did not live up to this repeated usage. And the ending was left dangling and wanting. It did not produce the finality that was obviously desired.

    The concept was nice, but needs some more working out. In his reminiscence the man told us the story's beginning, but the story's ending is much less certain. The written conclusion left the reader hanging there and was thus inconclusive.




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