Deeper Into The Curse Of The Collector

Curse of The Collector

Chapter 1 – The Tale of The Collector

 

     There is no record of the origin of the entity known as The Collector. Our most learned scholars believe it is perhaps the sole survivor of an ancient race of extra-dimensional beings, or perhaps a rare unique creature with the ability to harvest energy from living or once living creatures and use that power to create gateways between worlds.  

     Others believe he was originally a liminal being and a psychopomp once known as Charon the Ferryman of the River Styx, charged with collecting lost souls and returning them to the NETHERWORLD. But over time it developed the ability to also allow things from the world of the dead to enter OUR lands by expending the collected energy stolen from wayward Spirits of The Dead.

    What is known is that its unusual skills were used by primordial beings of almost inconceivable power and hunger eons ago to grant them entry into our material plane. Once they had breached the wall between our world and the NETHERWORLD these things were able to construct larger and more stable gateways such as the one located in the ancient evil underground city of Carcosa, guarded by their hideous offspring, the Undying.

     After establishing these gates, The Collector was ignored for eons until Carcosa was sealed by volcanic activity caused by Earth’s defenders.  The dark forces once more tracked down and bullied this unique entity and forced it to rend the veil that they might feed upon us once more. There were other methods to pierce the veil of course, including the twisted science of Dr. Colber and the seasonal rips in reality created by The Harvestman, but few helpers were as reliable as The Collector. 

     Since creatures from the NETHERWORLD burn under the glow of our sun they must take certain precautions if they wish to walk for long in our world. The Collector has always hidden its true form inside a host, generally a living human who rapidly decays into a withered animated corpse pulsing with unholy power.

      As he has walked the earth for millennia, these hosts were always those who had access to large amounts of the dead and dying to more easily harvest fresh souls. Periodically The Collector would abandon these husks when returning to the darkest pits of the NETHERWORLD, but they would endure eternally as mindless wraiths, shambling amongst the vast armies of the dead, and he would seek a new host after his return.

  

 

Chapter 2 -The Fury Builds

 

   Over the long eons of time The Collector grew increasingly angry over the demands of the Dark Ones. After all, the ferryman must be paid! After millennia of faithful service, and especially the tumultuous events of the last several decades including the Blood Night, The Rising of YS, The Invasion of the Goloths, The Awakening of the Undying and his endless leadership in the Dark Circle dedicated to expanding the gateways of the NETHERWORLD he was all but ignored by these vast uncaring entities.  They hungered eternally to consume all life energy and were never satisfied with what he brought before them.

     Then one day, as he watched from atop the ancient wind whipped spires of his crypt in Whyshburg as the armies of the dead marched on the town below to feast on the energy of the Primordials, he saw one of his Husks shamble by!  Even though he had long ago abandoned this particular decayed corpse it still moved, driven by thoughts and memories from long ago, imprinted on it by his possession of the body.  Then he decided to do what The Collector does and collected all of his Husks that were marching with the horde. He found a half dozen or so, spanning the growth of mankind across the old world and into the Americas, and in that moment amongst them he developed a new resolve. It was time for him, Charon, The Collector, the ancient being with a thousand names to finally receive his due!

 

 

Chapter 3 – Ritual of the Haunted Earth

 

     In the events of the Blood Night many years ago the Vampire Lord Ghoulich and the Daemon in the form of a man, Nethram Kahn, had covered the earth in eternal night. The Collector had schemed with them to bring about this great yet short-lived victory as after many battles and a notable defection by Goulich the darkness had faded and the NETHERWORLD creatures exposed to the light of the sun had burned into swirling cinders. 

     But The Collector had remembered what Kahn had said that day: ”The Blood Night is but a beginning, the dawn of the Haunted Earth!” In the time ravaged libraries of Carcosa, deep below the mountain, The Collector had studied the long lost runes scratched into the living rock by ancient claws to discover the meaning of The Haunted Earth. Apparently it referred to the culmination of a three part world changing ritual that would forever allow NETHERWORLD creatures to exist on Earth without burning from the sun’s rays.  The second part of this ritual was called the Maelstrom, a horrific Storm of Shadows called forth by the Ganoga, a powerful Netherspawn Sorcerer in order to conceal a new assault on the human world from Carcosa.

    Remnants of this storm still swirled above Whyshburg allowing the undead army free reign in attacking the city as they and their Undying overlords drew ever closer to consuming the Primordial energy from Elementals who were held captive there. Time was running out for the Brotherhood of Rhomb, the final defenders of the town. Despite their Powerful War Machines, Frankensteinian Army and Werewolf Shock Troops they were on the verge of falling to Nergal, Mortis and Necrotis’s army of the dead. But their greatest weapon, Carcosa’s Bane, a massive missile pulsing with Primordial energy, was aimed directly at Carcosa and the vast NETHERWORLD gateway. If they were able to launch it and destroy the gate it would seal off that huge doorway forever. Could they hold back the attackers long enough to complete the last calculations to launch the rocket?

     The Collector then realized what was about to occur.  The sealing of the largest most ancient NETHERWORLD gateway with pulsing primordial energy would result in an eschatological event of massive magnitude called an Umbilicus Noctem, the third and final part of the ritual to bring about the Haunted Earth!

 

 

Chapter 4 – Revenge of The Revenant

 

     After The Collector reunited with his husks he realized what must be done. The Brotherhood must be allowed to launch the missile! Unknowingly, Anton Varla and his forces would complete a ritual that would allow NETHERWORLD creatures to permanently dwell on Earth!  Yes, the sun might still weaken some of them, but from that point forward they could all live free of the NETHERWORLD, beyond the control of their dread masters!  But first he must stop the army of the dead to give precious time to the Brotherhood. He called the overlords of the dead, Nergal, Mortis and Necrotis before him, and for a moment took on his true ultimate form blasting them with overwhelming necrotic power! As they lay helpless, his Husks bound them in chains of silver laced cold iron forged to hold powerful supernatural beings. He then ordered his Husks to lead the army of the dead to abandon Whyshburg and march on Carcosa!

     Then The Collector reached out astrally to the three others he needed to complete his twisted plan. 

       He told Anton Varla to launch the missile immediately, as very soon the NETHERWORLD would send even worse creatures to prevent its launch. Varla was shocked by this sudden help from his ancient foe, but redoubled the Brotherhood’s efforts to complete Carcosa’s Bane as had been his plan from the beginning.  

     To the Alchemist Gerhard Dorn and the Zombie Queen, he warned of the coming of the Gorgons and their statue army to crush Whyshburg. Dorn gave the amulet of the Medusa (He had acquired it from Anton Varla) to the Zombie Queen and she emerged in Whyshburg Cemetery. There amongst the tilted tombs and sunken monuments she would make her stand with the powerful artifact to halt the attacking Gorgons.  

  

 

 Chapter 6 – Whyshburg’s Last Stand  

 

     Barely conscious of humans and other insignificant creatures, the ancient evil bloated leviathans of the NETHERWORLD were never ones to react quickly to changing events as they thought and existed over the course of untold eons. But one of their servitors was aware!  Primus Phobetor, a fearsome hybrid, half Gargoyle, half Nightmare King, was in command of Gargoyle Shock troops held in reserve behind the Army of the Dead.  They immediately swooped in over the skies of Whyshburg, carrying the massive bloody crawling parasitic eyes of the Undying Argus of the Thousand Eyes! Dropping them on the town, they dived into battle, replacing the fleeing dead on the front lines and closed in on the Missile as even more colossal, undying monsters attacked!

 

 

Chapter 7 – The Battle for Carcosa

 

     Then in a flash it was over as Carcosa’s Bane launched! Those few precious moments had been enough!

     In seconds, the rocket bored through miles of solid granite to the very heart of Carcosa and exploded in a wave of primordial energy. A wall of shimmering power engulfed the gateway to the Netherworld and overwhelmed it. In seconds, it shuddered and faded from existence as the veil between worlds long torn and tattered was finally repaired! But this deep healing and sealing of the most ancient NETHERWORLD gate had deep consequences, as the final part of the ancient ritual was now complete.

     In the skies above the Earth something awful was happening. The oily churning clouds of the Maelstrom seemingly dissipated and spread, in a matter of days covering the entire planet in an invisible eternal barrier….

    The vast necrotic serpent, Apophis, God of the dead, who had stood guard at the gate was mangled and battered by this release of unrelenting elemental energy. Stunned, it rose to its full height as another massive being confronted it, surrounded by the Army of the Dead.

The Collector, now in the form of a massive reaper, lifted his scythe and struck a savage blow to the undead dragon, and began to drain its power.

“Now I am not the servant…I am the master! Behold the new god of the dead! I will rule over all the fiends and horrors on this planet as is my right! Only I now control the gateway between worlds.  All now bow before me, The Collector, the ruler of The Haunted Earth!”