Fulgar - First Vision

Fulgar looked at his kin, being gutted, skinned and boned in what was obviously a great butchery. Blood was everywhere, streaming into purpose-built channels before pooling around the drains that were dotted across the brick floor. Raised stone slabs acted as the mortuary benches, next to each of which were two or three very large urns, into which organs were being slung. The butchers were massive humanoids, who’s green skin was barely noticeable beneath the red-brown stains of their trade. Most of them were hairless, incredibly strong but noticeably well fed. Their yellow eyes peered keenly into the gloaming and their lips curled in a perpetual grimace. Definitely skilled, but not as surgeons, these beasts chopped, gouged, scraped and dissected every corpse piled in front of them on the stone slab. So swift were their actions that a Hengeyokai wolf was eviscerated, dissected and stored or discarded within a few minutes: organs in one urn, bones in another, skulls and brains in a third, guts and entrails chucked into a huge central vat which was submerged just below the brick floor. The vat’s thick, yellow-green, contents bubbled, oozed and streamed in an unnatural way. Around the vat, which Fulgar estimated to be thirty foot across, six benchers were neatly arranged with each butcher facing inwards, looking over his slab. All discarded skins were collected and heaped by other minions in a pile near a huge iron gate set into wall at the far side of the butchery (from Fulgar’s viewpoint). These minions too were humanoid and were well built, but they were half the size of the butchers. Exposed, where thick leather tunics, loin cloths and high, hard boots left gaps, their skin was a pale grey and rough. Their black, matted hair was unkempt and most commonly pulled into a pony tail. They too worked rapidly and professionally. When the urns were full, three would gather together and lift them, using a clever rope sling, taking them to the wall opposite to where the skins were being piled. As Fulgar watched, the great iron gate – he estimated to be three-times normal human height and nearly as wide – opened slowly outwards. Fulgar heard heavy chains clanking and saw a portcullis, beyond the gate, slowly raise in unison. As soon as they were able to get through, the minions picked up the urns and took them out of the butchery and up a broad flight of stairs beyond; yet more would heft the skins out and up. The butchers continued their grim work as more minions brought in another load of stripped carcasses.

As Fulgar watched the horrific scene his eyes were drawn to a corner of the butchery where things seems more sedately. Here, a human – yes definitely human – stitched together a cadaver. He was dressed entirely in black robes, which hung from his slim shoulders and stretched to the blood-soaked floor. His pale, thin neck popped out of his drab garb almost unexpectedly. On this slim pedestal was balance a weighty orb-like head. Completely bald, the mottled white, translucent, rune-covered dome bobbed this way and that in the gloom as the man worked. Fulgar saw that he stitched together a Hengeyokai…Not just any, but it was clearly one of his folk in bi-pedal form. Fulgar’s attention was solely on the Hengeyokai in front of the human, who was stitching together the skin across the wolf-man’s torso. Then it struck Fulgar, like a hammer blow: here, in all this horror, lay his father.

“Gask!” a voice boomed, bringing Fulgar out of his misery, “have you made progress?” The bald man jumped at the sound of his name; it was clear that he knew the voice and appeared nervous. He stopped stitching and slowly turned to face the gate. Fulgar looked in that direction too; between corpse-bearing minions, another human emerged. Slightly shorter than the surrounding grey skins, the man’s form was no less impressive. Broad, stocky and dressed in the hinged metal and lamé, black armour favoured by the Kharash, he stepped across the threshold into the butchery and strode towards where the bald man laboured.

“My Khaan, I have been busy here,” Gask muttered, bowing and simultaneously indicating Fulgar’s father stretched out before him.

“So I see Gask, but your skills are required elsewhere now,” the warrior commanded moving closer to the man and resting both hands comfortably on bejewelled sword hilts which protruded from a wide leather belt. “Your study of the path, how goes it?”

“Ah, my Khaan, I have found the three entrances.” Fulgar noticed the bald man’s left-hand grasped something beneath his cloak, “or rather, I have the means to find them.”

“But you do not yet know where the temple is?” The Khaan pressed menacingly.

“I believe that each entrance leads to the Temple and the paths stretch out from there.”

“Go on…”

“Well, as you know, we have long suspected that the Runestones are keys but we did not know where the portals are…” Gask, gestured towards an amulet that Fulgar noticed the more impressive man wore on a metal chain hung from his neck. The amulet was perfectly square black stone, into which a strange array of gold lines were etched.

“But you do, yes?”

“I know…what needs to be done, yes”

“What does that mean, Gask? You are to stop messing with your play-things” the King cast his arms over Fulgar’s father dismissively, “and find the entrances!”

“Yes, great Khaan,” Gask bobbed his head like a child who had been admonished. The Khaan looked poised to strike but thought better of it, turned on his heels and strode out shouting back, “Now, Gask!”

My thoughts...

So, from my vision…..

The Kharash are possibly linked with IRON and have human necromancers and humanoid monsters under their control. There seems to be a symbolic link between EARTH and DEATH, with IRON possibly providing a gateway for DEATH to emerge into AIR/PRIME.

Numbers: THREE symbolically links DEATH into EARTH and may, symbolically, allow the link to be reversed (via IRON) – bringing the forces of the dead into the world. DEATH is exploited under EARTH, is controlled on EARTH and then emerges from EARTH.

Colours: Green and Yellow together seem to be linked to evil non-humans Black is linked to our enemy and Grey may be subordinate to that or not fully committed.

Not sure about: The relevance of the Sun symbol on runestones The relevance of the number 12 on runestones