The Hunger Taq had always fretted, he had been since he emerged from his spawning pool. Serving under the Skink priest Qra-qutil he had always seen the worst in the plaques, the stars, even the movement of the dust on the ground. For weeks he had dreamt of bloodied maws, hungry yellow eyes, and the laughter of something in the dark. He was but an attendant, so his fears were ignored. It began when one of the attendants of one of the city’s spawning pools was discovered consuming the bodies of the spawnlings that had died prematurely. The attendant had defended his actions by claiming that it was wasteful to just let the bodies rot. Several of the priests had demanded his death for such an action but others including Taq’s master argued that such a thing was not only efficient but laudable in its conception. Surely the Old Ones intended some use for the dead spawnlings and this seemed the most logical. Taq was not convinced but it was not his place to question his betters. Several months later Qra-qutil revealed his discovery of a plaque that claimed that the meat of worthy foes and fallen allies were a means to take in their strength and further on the plans of the Old Ones. So by consuming the flesh of the fallen, the eater would gain a measure of knowledge, wisdom, and power from the deceased, a way for the dead to remain a part of the Old Ones’ plans. There had been heated debate between the priests over this discovery. Whilst none dared make the claim that the plaque was a fake, there was an uneasiness. Some questioned if it had been truly translated correctly. There were calls to rouse the city’s sole Mage Priest so that he could shed some light, but Qra-qutil reported that the venerable Slann was too deep in slumber to aid them. Despite the voices against it, the plaque was eventually spoken to the entire city’s population. It was well met. The number of infirm, crippled, and weak few as they were seemed to disappear over the subsequent weeks. Several of the priests were concerned by this, but others argued that in order to be a strong city the weak links had to be removed. What had befallen these Lustrians remained a mystery to all but the priests, but Taq guessed. Shortly afterwards the priests that stood against the logic of the plaque and its prophet began to fall ill. They seemed to withdraw from public events and their priestly duties with the other hard-pressed priests led by the heroic Qra-qutil taking up the torch and covering for them. Taq had noticed that the skinks assigned to these absent priests never seemed to appear any more. He had queried Qra-qutil about it but the priest had replied that they were very hard at work caring for their masters. It had been a trying year for the city. There had been a long heatwave that had decimated much of the jungle’s fruit and droughts that had driven away many of the beasts the Lustrians would hunt. It had been curious how the priests remained well fed, but Taq knew better than to pry. In the city itself, rumours circled how it was no longer safe to wander alone at night, and an increasing number of Skinks and even some Saurus had gone missing. Taq himself had a close encounter with a Saurus whose eyes were filled with hunger, though he had managed to evade the maddened Saurus. When Taq had told Qra-qutil of his close escape, the priest had merely smiled a sharp fanged smile and claimed that Taq was certainly blessed by the Old Ones. Taq found himself avoiding his master more and more. Eventually nothing was said of the missing priests, and the matter was soon forgotten. The city was no longer a safe place and the gnawed on bones of Lustrians would be discovered more and more. The priests did nothing to abate it. Taq knew he had to awaken the Slann and rid the city of its curse. But as he entered the temple shrine, he found he was too late. How long the Mage Priest had been dead, Taq could not tell but Qra-qutil and the other priests were still feasting upon his remains. Bloodied maws and glazed yellow eyes turned to regard Taq as he stared in horror. “Welcome, brother Taq,” Qra-qutil spoke as he rose and wiped a smear of gore from his mouth, “the plaque was right, we have ascended and we shall carry out the will of the Old Ones. Loyal Taq, sup with us.” Weeks later a contingent from Itza arrived, perturbed by the lengthy silence and the taste of something foul upon the wind. In the city they found its people feasting upon each other, their minds devolved to hunger. All were quickly slain, their bodies burnt upon pyres. Within the temple shrine, the contingent found the partially eaten corpse of a Slann and the bloodied forms of the city’s priests, their throats cut. A solitary plaque, split by a heavy blow lay before the corpses, foul greenish rock once buried inside it now open to the world. Sitting in the centre of the chamber was a lone Skink, his eyes dead and distant. The Skink only spoke of the hunger and nothing more.
I was a little worried about the flow at the time, so that's good to hear. Taq originally was going to do more but every time I tried to get him to do something it didn't seem to work. In the end despite his introduction there was very little truly about him. Considering i'd call myself more of a character writer this was an odd move for me. However, i'm not sure I could have done it as much justice if I had shown what Taq did. That was one of my misgivings as I wrote (but by that point it was a bit too late to go back.) I figured Lustrians would not be too adverse to eating their own dead and just tried to play with it a bit. Would Lustrians be so easily duped by a questionable plaque? Would the Slann have remained so unaware? Whilst not revealed, I like to think it was something far darker and ancient than mere Skaven that was behind the corruption. As to what happened with Taq...heheheh... Thank you for the indepth reading, sir! I also had the Kroot mindset of devouring selected foes in mind mixed with the historical idea. It felt fitting for the Lustrians. And it took me ages to get the image of bloody mawed Skinks feasting on a dead Slann from my mind...And now its back...great. I really loved the way you wrote your reviews. It was fun to write this sort of story. So here's the kicker, Ratty, I have only read a couple of Lovecraft's stories and one of those he himself hated! I generally don't read much horror...which is a shame really. And yes, Taq maybe needed more. They do make nice robes...erm...so I hear. (Space reserved for self commentary)