Hmm…
“By the way, Dark Young, would you like to use these humans as souvenirs?”
“These fellows? I don’t mind taking them if they intend to serve us. But if that isn’t the case, they’ll only be in our way.”
Judging by the looks on their faces, they don’t seem interested in servitude whatsoever. Their AI is very realistic.
“What’s wrong?”
“I was just thinking that it’s best to exterminate them right now if you have no interest in taking them back with you.”
“Is that so?”
“Princess is kinda scary, isn’t she?”
“She loves bloodshed despite how she looks.”
“Our princess is a violent one!” the group chants.
You guys sure love to run your mouths, don’t you?!
But I’m left with no choice. I have to summon Shub-Niggurath with the Silver Key or risk sending the Dark Young into another frenzy. I’m sure it will calm right down as soon as its mother shows up. If the Silver Key doesn’t work—oh, the Summon Shub-Niggurath spell option is lit up. I can try it that way if I have to.
I’ll tell the union so I can have them work on what I need.
“Violation number one. The actions they’ve taken in the name of this ritual amount to kidnapping and burglary under human law.”
“The kids and lumber?” the other players chime in.
“Violation number two. This group have in their possession a method of summoning Shub-Niggurath.”
“And that’s no good,” the players respond.
“Violation number three. They foolishly attempted to outwit a Dark Young and the Blessed in order to use Shub-Niggurath for their own purposes.”
“Tell me more,” the Dark Young demands.
I share the information we gathered from our investigation with the Dark Young and the Blessed of Shub-Niggurath.
“I see…”
Ah, the Blessed and Dark Young reacted the same way. But I suppose that’s to be expected. They’re all outer ones, so it makes sense that they’d be angered by the same things. The Blessed weren’t actually raging during the ritual, but that was then, and this is now.
I wonder why the Dark Young still looks like it could swing its thick tentacles down at any moment. Well, I wouldn’t mind if it killed someone—so long as that satisfied its rage for good. That way, we won’t have to be on edge.
“She’s lying! We would never do such things!” one of the fanatics cries.
Ah, how lovely! Thank you for bringing about your own end!
It’s an act of suicide to tell a lie to any member of the Stellura family. Frankly, silence was the only thing that could have saved them. Our family—and people with Stellura’s blessing such as myself—have a single question that can instantly shut them up.
“I want you to swear those words on the name of Stellura, my master.”
“…!”
“I shall take your silence as an answer. However, since we haven’t worked out what to do with your lot yet, why don’t we call Shub-Niggurath and leave the decision in her hands?”
“Very well,” says the Dark Young.
I’m a bit nervous, since I’ve never met her before, but I can always flee with the Silver Key if she puts up a fight.
“Does anyone mind if I summon her?” I ask the players.
“A Shub-Niggurath summoning ritual makes me think of...”
“I know what you’re expecting, but this is an all-ages game.”
“Why?!”
“What do you mean, ‘why?’”
“Do you think the fanatics will put up a fight?”
“I’ll be using the Silver Key, so I don’t think they can interfere with the oath. My key opens a gate without all the steps, meaning there shouldn’t be any room for them to get in my way.”
“Then go for it!” the players tell me.
All right, I’ll proceed with the summoning. Do I even need to chant anything when using the Silver Key? It makes me a bit sad to skip it, so I’ll go with the famous spell.
“Iä! Iä! Shub-Niggurath… Summon Shub-Niggurath!”
Attempting to summon Shub-Niggurath.
Summoner: Comrade
Summonee status: Normal
Contract with summonee: None
Affinity level with summonee: Neutral to friendly
Unlike the usual animations where the Silver Key floats downward or directly in front of me, this time, it shot up in the air. Um, it’s actually too high up to see. Ah, I can use Lizzy to get a look.
Shub-Niggurath has been summoned by a player.
Entering banishing phase… Banishing phase deferred.
“Deferred?! Hey, there’s special BGM!”
A crack forms in the sky, large enough to span across all of our heads at the very least, as the BGM switches to a new track. Is that…an accordion?
From somewhere we can’t make out on the other side of the fissure, a translucent sort of mist or smoke—something—begins to pour out.
The mood has suddenly gotten much more intense. Her presence is simply overwhelming.
The fanatics have gone pale, fallen to their knees, and are now staring up at the sky. How rude. Isn’t this the being you people wanted to meet?
“Time for a SAN check!”
“They don’t have those in this game!”
“The SAN check will come in your dreams!”
“That’s more like it!”
I can’t tell whether the billowing substance is her trying to take a form we can comprehend or if she’s merely indulging the whims of gravity, but regardless, she’s gently descending toward us. As she starts to touch down, the clear haze takes on a dark color and coalesces into hooves that, somehow, produce deep indents in the soil when they make contact without making so much as a single sound.
She’s many times larger than the Dark Young, and she completely eclipses the nearby trees. The fact that she’s not mowed down a single one of said trees gives me the impression she’s trying to be polite. Is she refraining from materializing the portions of her form that are contacting them? If “materialized” is even the right word to use for this, anyway.
“What is your business with me, newcomer?”
“It’s an honor to meet you, Shub-Niggurath.”
“Be at ease, for we are comrades. Well?”
“There’s a bit of a situation here, you see.”
“Answer me, my child.”
I don’t really know how to describe Shub-Niggurath’s voice. I would call it something like a high-handed female tone.
The Dark Young, as beckoned by its mother, wriggles its tentacles and bleats. The rest of us players watch on. It’s a very surreal scene. I probably shouldn’t interrupt it.
“Would you call this a touching reunion?” I ask.
“Dunno,” the players respond at the same time.
“If it is, then aren’t we just getting in their way?”
“But so are those guys.”
“Maybe we should leave.”
“Yeah, sounds good.”
“But where do we go?”
“Heh!” everyone chuckles.
You are in the presence of the king of Lapu…of the goddess Shub-Niggurath!
Actually, where exactly does Shub-Niggurath rank in this world? Nyar was a prime minister, but I’m curious about Azathoth too. Of course, I’m not going to inquire about him right now.
It seems like the Dark Young is finished bleating his report.
“May I do as I please here?”
“Yes, absolutely. We won’t interrupt, and we’ll inform the other humans about what’s happened.”
“I see. Then take me to the public area.”
I’ll do as I’m told. Time for the Silver Key!
The fissure in the sky closes and the Silver Key descends to me. This time, it creates a giant gate, revealing a field of flowers on the other side—the Medium’s public area.
“It is time to return, my child. We shall do as my comrade and her allies request.”
“Meeeh!”