Into the Fire Part 2

It is said Madness is a concept that has no physical form. You can point at... Say... Morningstar, and say "That is Madness incarnate" but you would be wrong. Madness Incarnate is not a person... It is a place. I have seen it. I have stared deeply into it. I type this even now in the Heart of Madness, in the dungeons beneath The Devil's Throne. Outside is nothing but ash... Wicked chains littering the ground, distant echoes of wailing torture. The stink of burning flesh is SUFFOCATING... I am in the realm of a Dead God, in the clutches of The King of Hell. My Charon, was the Gardener of the Devil's Court. His name is Morgan.

He drove us away from the Asylum, speeding like a madman. I could see lights coming from the cells. A fire had started. Good. Burn all the evil there away... Of course from the ashes, something new will rise. Probably just as bad.

Our driver remained silent. Roland thanked him for rescuing us.... His expression was... A sneer. A scowl? It was unpleasant whatever it was. Roland asked his name. He introduced himself as Morgan Sturn, The Gardener of the Court. I asked him he was going to go back for The Piper. He simply said "No."

Being an obviously antisocial sort, and given his general expression and tone indicated an extreme amount of dislike or flat out hatred... The rest of the trip was in Silence.

We stopped at an old farmhouse. Morgan ordered us to get out. We did so, and he followed. He forced us into the old home, pushing and telling us to "Move it." It was a small creaky building, with a couch and a rocking chair and an old time Television in the middle of the room. I remember thinking that the place felt unpleasant.

Morgan moved us towards the center of the room and, and he started doing... Something. The next second it was as if the entire world began burning... The stink of death, fire and ash filled the air and... My eyes were clouded and watering. Smoke was everywhere. It was around us, it was within us. The floorboards, the walls, the ceiling... All was flame and smoke. I felt I was spinning in a whirlwind of ash, a tornado of fire... When it stopped I felt a hot breeze and Morgan grabbed our collars and shoved us through the smoke. When we emerged outside, I was in shock at what I saw. I heard Roland mutter a plea to God and his angels... They weren't listening. I doubt they ever were, to allow something like this place to exist.

An Endless expanse of white, clouds of ash rising through the air. Faint echoes of... Screams and weeping. Morgan pushed us forward, and we climbed atop a steep hill made of bright gray dust. At the summit we looked down and beheld a lake of fire, breathing smoke and ash high into the hidden sky. I turned to Morgan expecting some kind of answer for what I as seeing. He merely glared at me and told me to get moving. As we walked, Roland told me he thought he saw figures within the fire, burning and screaming.

Surely this was Hell.

We walked and saw the gray ash harden and turn black. The silhouette of a structure was visible nearby, though the details were obscured by the wildly blowing ash. Roland got caught on something buried within the dust. He pulled out a long chain and yelped when the wicked barbs cut into his skin. I saw a charred bone attached to the chain. I remember being more careful as I walked, feeling a crunch beneath my feet all too often. It was as if we were treading upon the remains of an army of prisoners, chained together in fire.

The structure remained a hazy mirage even as we walked into it's very maw. Inside it we entered a long hallway as a gate slammed shut behind us of it's own accord. Morgan kept driving us forward, and so I could not take in the details of the hallway. It's color was overwhelmingly Crimson. The bloody color was almost blinding as we entered a large chamber.

The Court.

It was a large hall saturated with Red. In the center was a large firepit, filled with hot coals and faint embers. Despite the lack of a fire, I found myself unable to look upon it for very long. It filled my heart with a blind panic I had not felt in some time... Since my last encounter with It.

Across the room at the head were two thrones. The larger of the two was empty, while the other seated a dark haired woman in a black waxen robe, with a silver mask in her lap. Her face was cruel. Standing near her was a strange man dancing around silently. He wore a yellow hoodie and a mask with a painted smiling face on it. His dancing stopped as he noticed us. The last was a tall, thin man in a well kept suitcoat and fedora, held tipped over his eyes, with bright red hair drawn into a ponytail and a small, mocking grin.

"Well, well well, look what the hellcat dragged in." he said.

Morgan scowled in reply, as the black robed woman rose up to greet us with a shark's smile.

"Uriel was there, milady. I assume Piper stayed behind to stall him. Where is the King?" Morgan asked the woman.

"The King anticipated this, so don't fret. He is busy holding Uriel back at the moment..." She replied before looking to the other two. "Go ensure The Piper escaped alive." She told them.

The Dancing man bowed and seemed to distort the air as he vanished suddenly. "Geez, I always get the busywork...Ah well, one Piper, coming right up." The other said, giving Morgan a mocking wink as he turned with a swish of his coat, seeming to vanish into the shadows of the throne.

Morgan grumbled something under his breath as the woman beckoned us forward.

"I am the Queen of this Court. I wish to welcome you to the Grove of Fetters my darlings... Oh. You must be tired out from your little adventure with that imbecile Magog. Come." the Black Queen said as she walked towards a dark door on the left side of the hall.

We followed of course. No where to go if we did escape. I knew I did not like these people... Even more than Magog they gave me a horrible feeling just to be around. The Black Queen chatted to no one in particular as we walked, and Morgan remained silent. I noticed he kept one hand near his sword the whole way.

"Our dearest Gardener and our beloved Pattern Juggler do not get along very well. I am afraid. You'll have to forgive their clear disdain for each other. They ought to know better when we have guests, especially ones as distinguished as yourselves..." She said.

"Apologies milady... Rhodes is scum though. It was a mistake to recruit him." Morgan said in response.

To my surprise, the Queen stopped and turned to face Morgan.

"Are you saying our King made a mistake? If you like, I can tell him you think you know better than him when it come to recruiting allies." She said with a horrible smile.

Morgan winced visibly, which is quite telling in my opinion. "No... I would prefer it if you kept that to yourself, milady. Apologies..." he said.

She turned and continued walking until we entered what appeared to be a prison of sorts. Morgan drew his sword completely as he followed behind us.

"My apologies darlings. While we would like to have you free and roaming around... We just cannot trust you to behave, based on your actions while being held by Magog. Don't worry though, I assure you we will be kind hosts, doing everything in our power to ensure your stay is... Comfortable." She said as Morgan forced Roland into a cell.

Then it came to be my turn as we entered a different cell block... Which is where I am even now. This computer is one of the things meant to make me "comfortable." A small slit of a window provides light and allows for some sound to come through from outside... It makes sleeping difficult. Night and day look no different here, and the screaming never stops. But the worst thing? I think I am losing my mind in here. It doesn't make sense. The door is not locked. But I open it and it opens INTO my cell. It is... Hahaha. It can't be real. It is physically impossible. Seeing Monsters do things like this, I can believe. But I am walking through a door into the room I walked out of. And the screams just don't fucking stop. The rain is fire. Storms blow ashes with such force I cannot believe the window does not crack...

Morgan and the Piper have been by to deliver food and water a few times. Piper at least bothers to give the pretense that we are "guests."

I have yet to see this "King." Piper mentioned that the King is being delayed by Uriel. Apparently once the King arrives, Roland and I will be released. So now, all I can do is wait. Wait in the depths of Pandaemonium's dungeons, until what I fear to be the Devil comes to set us free... My question becomes...

Free to do what?

Into the Fire Part 1

We are alive still. Out of the frying pan and into... Hell, more than likely. Heh. Magog was onto my escape plans... I didn't get far before getting tased and locked up. For some incomprehensible reason, they want ME for something.

I have come to find out they are not the only ones.

Roland and I were of course in seperate cell blocks. I was in darkness for about three days... Still fed well, but kept locked up in a padded cell in a block full of gibbering madmen. I think I cracked a bit by the second day... I was raving right along with them. Then I heard the music playing. A small... Joyous sound. It was soothing.... I felt my eyes shut and I heard the mad raving silence as the music echoed through the dark hall.

I was barely awake when it stopped. I came to the cell door and peered out the hole given. The Oathbreaker guards were on the floor, sleeping. But I also another man. He was carrying a flute and dressed in... I can only describe it as overwhelmingly purple renaissance fair gear. He looked ridiculous.

Then I saw him remove the masks of the Oathbreakers and put his lips to theirs. With each one, I saw a faint... Light of a color I cannot describe, rising from their throat into the stranger's mouth. They stopped breathing when he had finished. I saw him lick his lips and look at me through the hole with a cheery smile.

I backed away from the door, for what good it would have done had he been there to kill me. He opened the door and took a bow, introducing himself as "The Piper of the Court." He told me "The King of the Court" wished to have an "Audience with me."

I told him that if he was breaking me out, we had to go free Roland before I would come. To my surprise, he agreed to do so. So I followed him out. Isn't it laughable? This insanity? I didn't even question it at the time. Ha. I just... Followed the Purple Piper, trusting that we would keep his word.

I suppose I didn't really have a choice though, did I.

Roland was surprisingly happy to see me. Turns out the Oathbreakers mentioned my escape attempt and started playing mind games with him about my fate. Ha. Proxies and Oathbreakers are not as dissimilar as they think.

Of course there was no teary eyed reunion or anything so dramatic. We had no time. The Piper ushered us out and informed us that we would be escaping in a truck parked nearby. Before he could expand, we heard shouting, some angry and some afraid. I saw Piper smile wide as he told us not to worry.

"The King anticipated this. In fact, it is why I am able to rescue you fine gentlemen tonight."

I asked him what was going on.

"The harsh Light of God shines down on this place. It will burn away all of Magog's petty little coven. Uriel comes, and your 'Pale Men' come with him... Make haste now, as I would rather not have a confrontation with one of Them."

I honestly still have no idea what he was talking about when he said "The Light of God." But as for this Uriel, Roland was able to explain that one.

So we "made haste" for the nearest window. Unfortunately, I saw those black cloaked bastards down below. More disturbingly, I saw around half a dozen. We only thought there were four of them... And there were clearly more inside the building, judging by the sounds of fighting.

Most of the other windows were too close to the Pale Men, so we moved towards another hallway. I tripped over a dead Oathbreaker on the way. I think I had a conversation with him a few days ago... Strangely though, I cannot say I am sad he is dead. Maybe it is for the best. Nevertheless, we moved on but stumbled into a... A sea of darkness. Only it wasn't the night. It was the blackness of long coats and black hats. Illumination coming from pale skin and shining knives.

In front of them was a strange man in an indigo robe. He looked like a... Stereotypical fortune teller. Appropriate, as Roland recognized the man as "Yuri L. Polzin." Not a familiar name? Roland mentioned him in an early post as a local fortune teller that directed him to ME after he started seeing Dumah.

And what does this revelation mean?

... I honestly have no idea. Obviously the man sent the Pale Men after us, but I STILL don't know why. Piper knows. The rest of "The Court" knows. But they won't tell me. Or let me leave for that matter. In fact, I am only being allowed to use this computer because I BEGGED them.

Do I sound a bit blase about this? If so. It's because I am. This is the THIRD TIME I have been captured by someone.

I suppose I might vent on here later, assuming they don't do whatever it is they plan to use me for first. I'll get to it in a minute.

So. Uriel immediately turned and smiled at Roland, saying.

"Roland! My dearest of all friends! How have you been? I see you made it to Dr. Marsh alright... Have my cherubim been providing you will all sorts of... eh... Entertainment?

And Dr. Marsh... Or Jon, if you will allow me to call you that. So good to finally meet you in person. I am sure we will become... eh... fast friends, in the regrettably little time you have left in this world. If you... eh... would kindly come with me, I can promise you... All the answers you seek, and didn't know to seek, will become... eh... Clear."

The man sounded like Germussiastantian Dracula. Roland was too in shock seeing him to reply. I myself was too scared. Piper stepped in front of us and I saw Uriel cock his head to the side at a strange angle, his eyes shining a strange violet in the dark. Piper told us to run the other way as fast as we could until we get out. Our escape driver would be waiting nearby.

Who am I to question a soul stealing carnie. Haha.

So we ran away, down the winding halls, and the Pale Men and Oathbreakers were too busy to impede us. The Pale Men were chattering away, with that strange insect clicking... Just not stopping no matter what the Oathbreakers threw at them. They were using guns, clubs, saws... Anything they could get their hands on. But the most they were able to do is get the Pale Men to fall. But they always got back up. You know, I refuse to believe all Proxies or Oathbreakers are evil sadists. So odds are, some of the men here didn't deserve to die like this... But they did. The Oathbreakers were panicking horribly.

The various different Pale Men... And I use "various" loosely... Were simply unstoppable in such numbers. It reminded me of a swarm of insects... An army of ants marching forward on their prey. Slow and juggernaut, but utterly unstoppable. None of them seemed different from the others... Black wide brimmed hats, long dark coats.... Bone white skin, hairless heads and dead blue eyes. The only variation was in height and weight. Their knives possessed the same gleam in the dim light... Only the different patterns of the wet blood coating them could set them apart. Even then, they all eventually become a solid red... They took little notice of us, instead focusing on their panicking prey. The fear is a weakness that they can sense, I think. So we remained ignored and forgotten as we made our escape.

Until we ran into Magog that is. I saw him ram a Pale Man's head through a computer monitor and begin yelling at us.

"GET BACK TO YOUR CELL NOW MARSH."

The Pale Man got back up and distracted Magog further, until he smashed some bottle of clear fluid on it's head. It went down once again. But they never stay down. They don't die. We tried, we tried, we tried. Magog took the opportunity to calm down and threaten me in a more characteristic way.

"Get back in your Cell, or I will amputate your legs and drag you back myself"

He almost took some steps towards us to try it. The Pale Man was having none of it though. Who are you supposed to root for in that fight... Even if it is obvious who would win. Heh. The worst part of it all is that are worse things than the Pale Men out there in the dark... Not just Dumah... You know, that name has become inappropriate. He isn't an angel. He is a God. And here I sit in the Devil's House, hiding from God's Light.

So we left Magog to his fate... I wonder if he died. Or rather, how he died.... I suppose however it happened, he deserved worse. Remember... Me discussing those "Afflicted" that I merely caught glimpses of? Well I saw a few. In the confusion some had escaped and were mindlessly shuffling around the back exit.  The Pale Men gave them little thought... Imagine Bones wearing sewn up suits of meat. Imagine that meat coming alive with billions of tiny bacteria and cancerous cells of such potency they give a life to every square inch of that meat. Imagine it trying to rip itself apart to end the living hell is calls a life. Imagine the blood from wounds trying to open and shut. The pus pouring from rotting sores. Eyeballs swollen and a veritable rainbow of variants of red, brown and yellow. Glossy and dull. When they were even visible from all the swelling. I saw torsos swollen from the stomach trying to devour itself with acid. I saw feet missing all skin and many chunks of flesh, leaving a trail of blood and stinking meat as the Afflicted shambled mindlessly around...

And they talked too. They babbled. Introduced themselves over and over. Talked about loved ones. Dreams and aspirations. Repeating endlessly and in contradictory ways. Some even mistook the babblings of the others for their own thoughts. Others simply sat on the ground and made sounds like crying or laughing. Picking at the decaying flesh that made up their bodies.... And the exit was past them.

We had to hug the wall to escape. It was... Nerve wracking. If just one of them touched us. Bled on us... Spat or vomitted on us. God only knows what would have happened. But we made it unmolested. We opened the door and we took off running away from the Asylum Grounds... I was almost too scared to look back. To see if any Oathbreakers, Afflicted or Pale Men were following.

When I did turn, I was grabbed by a Pale Man. Roland stopped and... Looked for a moment at me. Hesitating of course. It didn't matter. As I tried to keep the thing's knife from my gut, I heard a bang and the Pale Men fell, for a time. I looked and saw The Creature wearing Silas' face, with it's rifle in hand in a tree. It pointed towards the road and smiled.

So we followed the direction of an abomination... A large truck drove up from a hidden spot in some trees, and it's doors swung open. Inside was a Large man with dark blonde hair and deep blue eyes, in a set of navy blue kevlar armor, with a large claymore beside him.

We climbed in with him and he sped off.

So we let ourselves get taken prisoner again.

Would have been better off just letting the Pale Men finish us. Hindsight is a terrible thing. Ha.

Plan B

Alright. I expect I have at least... An Hour to get this damned post up. It was clearly a stupid move to trust psychopathic cultists whose name indicates untrustworthiness. I know I was rambling last post about suicide, but I do NOT WANT TO DIE. But I have NOT been idle. I have been taking every SECOND they are not looking at me to get ready for war. A lot of Molotovs and a few homemade bombs. Also going to call in the Police if I can... They will at least cause SOME confusion with the Oathbreakers...

If I don't post tomorrow, I probably failed.

To explain why this happened, I caught Oathbreakers bringing Roland of all people into the Asylum. I asked what was going on and Magog told me that he thinks the Pale Men are actually after Roland, and not me and that I just happened to be with him when the Pale Men attacked.

That seems INCREDIBLY unlikely to me. I then made the likely stupid decision to bring up what Morningstar recommended I ask in the comments a few posts ago. Something about "The Brute" and "Metatron."

Magog didn't like me asking that. His expression was... Alarmed, to say the least.

After returning inside, saying I was going to my room, I went to speak to Magog's Aide, a guy named Chimera. I started asking about the Plan. I told him Magog had informed me about The Brute and Metatron. So I asked him what the next step was. He told me he was surprised Magog told me, and that the next step was getting into "The City."

I was interrupted by Magog storming in and demanding I go back to my room. Which I did, to type this.

So I am thinking I will call the cops, start a few fires to distract the Oathbreakers, grab Roland as a meatshield at the very least... All the idiot is good for... Then get the hell out.

Wish me luck.

Current Events

The Oathbreakers are now looking for something... This is not worrying me. What does worry me are the pains they are taking with me. I was expecting to be forcibly inducted into their cult by now. Or given some sort of ultimatum. Or simply wake up in one of those padded cells. Just... Something.

It is amusing in a way. I keep checking the food they give me... Rather generous amounts given my guest status. I wake up every morning and check every inch of myself, in case I was injected with something in the night. But there never is anything suspicious. Nothing unusual... Everything is Normal.

Which, obviously, is itself unusual.

The Oathbreakers themselves are ever chipper towards me. It is becoming unnerving. I have seen how they act towards each other, and it is very different from the attitude they display towards me. They seem to act arrogantly and ill tempered with one another. But with me it is all smiles and handshakes.

There is obviously something going on here beyond what they are telling me. I am not stupid, but neither are they. If I have begun to notice something is off about this, they have likely noticed I have noticed. So if I were them, I would try to speed along whatever it is they are planning. Otherwise, I would become a danger. Right?

I don't know anymore.

Having trouble looking at myself in the mirror. Mind is barely analyzing all that is going on. I just want to sleep.

Watched one of their side experiments the other day. Some kind of virus. The woman's flesh was rotting... It wasn't painful I think. She seemed more horrified at the sight than the feel. I wonder if the pain would have made it better. Pain numbs the brain... With so much pain it can't process correctly. But this? That women knew what was happening to her. She knew every detail and she watched herself... Her skin falling off.

Being skinned alive. How familiar?

Maybe this is worse in a way... Magog is so impersonal with these experiments. "Can you feel anything?" "Does this hurt?" "What if we apply this? Do you feel this?." He isn't talking to a human being in his mind... Just a labrat. Maybe not even that. Morningstar was so... Personal. Maybe that made it easier...

Even if it didn't. The pain could drown his voice out. He probably knew that and just kept on for his own amusement. Magog and this woman... The woman answered every time. There was no drowning out that voice. A voice no doctor should use... So dispassionate. But she answered, and she was terrified. She was in mental anguish even if she was not physically hurting.

Of course I just watched. It was different but... I just kept seeing Morningstar and that Man. But I wasn't restrained this time. I could have stopped it? At least for a bit. But I am not going to. If I did, I would have been sitting there next just watching my body die. I would have been turned into one of those shambling monsters in the basement. Skin so rotten and diseased it sloughs off if they move too abruptly.

I was curious. I wanted to see one... They showed it to me. I don't know if it was male or female, but no body should be...

It... Shouldn't have been alive. But it was. We had to wear hazard suits just to be near it. The "Keepers of the Castle" one Oathbreaker called it. That wheezing and coughing...

The longer I survive this... This Hell. This is Hell. The longer I survive this, the more fucking inhuman shit I see. Maybe I should get out and just LET Dumah take me. Maybe I should just take this goddamn gun and END IT. I don't fucking want to see anymore of this MONSTEROUS fucking SHIT.

Trust Issue

Funny thing about my walk. It was utterly uneventful and rather peaceful. No sign of the Pale Men or Dumah, despite my vulnerability. Exactly what we did not want to happen. I personally blame myself for trying such an obvious ploy. "Going to take a walk. In the dark. With a minimum of security." 

Yet, Magog seemed unsurprised. This bothers me. I knew of course that he was unlikely to be telling me everything that he knew about the Pale Men... But he seems to be implying he knows their actual goal. Surprising in that I did not think they had one beyond killing us.

I would take this time to regurgitate all the information I have on Magog in order to analyze it... But in doing so, I would be... Betraying him in a sense. The less his enemies know the better, I suppose. While I don't quite consider him a friend, he is the enemy of my enemy. That is reason enough to keep his secrets safe. 

For now anyway. 

So instead I will talk about the Asylum itself... Maybe a bit more about the Oathbreakers. The Asylum was evidently founded by an Oathbreaker named Dr. Mikhail Adler, as an easy way to acquire test subjects and carriers for disease. Magog's coven forced out Adler's coven and took over about fifteen years ago. 

Magog's Coven, as I previously had said, has some unorthodox views and methods compared to the other covens. Of course, given their tendency to cure disease as much as spread it, they are seen as more pacifistic compared to other covens. Which explains why Magog dresses like the Dark Lord Sauron was eaten by SCP-049. He cannot allow his coven to look like easy prey... Which, given the amount of weapons I have seen stored here, is certainly not the case.

Before anyone asks, No. No I cannot get into their weapon rooms. They made it clear I would be shot on sight if I tried. 

What else... The Patients come in three varieties. The cosmetic type, which exists mainly to ensure the Asylum looks normal and well functioning. The testing type, who are the unlucky souls subjected to the various diseases and potential cures. All for the good cause of science though... The third variety are referred to as "The Afflicted" by most of the Oathbreakers.

I have not seen much of them... And I do mean that literally. While I haven't seen any living Afflicted, I have seen what they leave behind. Rotting gelatinous globs of flesh sticking to the ground. Blood and pus everywhere around them... Magog's aide referred to them as "Post Testing Patients" and mentioned their sensitivity to light, and that they are extremely infectious unless proper precautions are in place. Hence why they were scrubbing the cell with all the flesh, blood and pus. 

So there are clearly some horrors here... But with any luck I shall continue to avoid them. For now, we wait until Magog's Plan B comes to pass. I do not cherish the thought of becoming bait again, but if I must so be it.

Confusion

So. Thomas Mercer is not an Apostle, but an Oathbreaker. Why then did The Archangel interfere with the Pale Men, thereby ensuring my arrival at the Asylum? What does the Archangel have to gain from this?

I have no theories as to why, aside from "idle whim" which is not a wise thing to assume when dealing with these Creatures. Why would it bother acquiring Silas... May he rest in peace... Face and appearance other than to disorient and confuse me? 

... Bring this up mainly out of boredom. The Oathbreakers are not quite ready to capture a Pale Man, and we cannot be certain they will even show up. I hope so. I want them to suffer for what they've done.

I wonder if Roland is still alive. Magog pointed out something interesting to me about him... That Car Morningstar left us was actually stolen. Ergo, we had been riding around in a stolen vehicle with it's intact license plate. We are lucky we didn't get arrested.

Hmm. Might be best if he did get arrested. A Jail cell might keep him safer from the Pale Men and Dumah... Or it could trap him. Either way, I don't particularly care.

... Not much else to discuss really. Think I am going to go take a walk... With at least a minimum Oathbreaker escort of course.

Oathbreakers

I feel the need to now explain why Roland is no longer with me. You see, our time spent just before the meeting was... Heated. Roland had looked into my notes and was convinced "Dr. Thomas Mercer" was an Apostle. A servant of the Archangel, which I theorize to consist of only 12 individuals. Possibly 13. Thomas was an Apostle, so it would admittedly be logical to suspect Thomas Mercer of being the Archangel equivalent of the Apostle of the same name. Of course, it didn't matter. Even if he was, what of it? We were backed into a corner. It would kill us, or the Pale Men would.

It was a moment of regrettably dark trains of thought.

When we arrived at the meeting point with Dr. Mercer, we encountered a small team of Oathbreakers in full... Costume. The obvious leader, Magog, was an intimidating sight with his Robe having jagged shards of metal sticking out of it. Of course by the time we saw them, they saw us. If they wanted to stop us from running they could. So I stepped out of the vehicle ready to accept whatever fate had in store for me. It would have been pointless to run.

So naturally the moment I stepped out of the car, Roland took the wheel and drove off with everything we owned. Leaving me to potentially die.

I am a bit angry at that decision.

But it turns out Magog was extremely welcoming and helpful. All of the Oathbreakers I have met are. Intelligent and generally very charming individuals with keen insight into the all matters concerning the mind, living things, medicine and of course... The Creatures.

I confess I fear I might be looking at them so positively as a result of my last experience with cultists. The Oathbreakers are certainly an upgrade from the Proxies. But they made it clear that I could be very beneficial to their cause. That cause being to destroy Dumah and other creatures like it.

I approve of this cause. Their methods are bit... Harsh of course. There are many patients in this asylum, most of whom I doubt actually belong here. Perhaps they are relatives of the Oathbreakers. I cannot think of any other way they could get away with this.

The patients conditions are monitored constantly. They are kept alive. In constant pain no doubt, and sick... But alive. And their suffering is for a good cause. In the end they will have saved many lives if this plan works. They seem used to it actually. That is good. It makes it easier perhaps...

You may be wondering if I followed Morningstar's advice from the last post's comments. I have not. I have spoken with Magog extensively on his goals, what will happen to me once I have served my purpose.... Etc. I am satisfied with the answers, for now. But I will of course be keeping very wary of my new allies.

We hope to have captured a Pale Man by next week. If we are successful, then we may just be able to craft a Monster killing Virus. It will be over at long last... I truly hope I am still alive to see it. I hope I am there to see It die.

Alive

First off, I would like to apologize for my absence and lack of posting. This has been a wonderful week. Wonderful. For the first time in... God it's been Months hasn't it... I have some small hope of survival. At least for a little bit longer. The same cannot be said for that idiot Roland who has been locked out of this blogger account so that I don't have to hear his idiocy. Perhaps I am a bit bitter from a recent event that I will discuss some other time.

The important thing is this. I am currently in a compound filled with individuals known as Oathbreakers. For the enlightened, you will already know that Oathbreakers are neither servants of Dumah or the Archangel creature. To my surprise. I'll get back to that soon. Dr. Thomas Mercer, or Magog as he seems to prefer in the company of his fellow Oathbreakers, is a brilliant man with a grand amount of resources at his disposal. Not nearly as eccentric or insane as one would assume given that he worships one of those... Creatures.

Oathbreakers are servants of a living embodiment of pestilence, disease and rotting death. They prefer "God of Change and Evolution." It evidently takes a form similar to that of a Plague Doctor. As a guest of the Oathbreakers, I am presumably under It's protection... And if not, I appear to be beneath It's notice. Neither Dumah or the Archangel have made any appearances. Magog tells me this is because I am in "The Good Doctor's" Territory. One of the other creatures coming here would be seen as an act of aggression. Some bias may be in play, but Magog tells me that The Good Doctor's power is on par with that of Dumah itself, thus ensuring my relative safety.

Though for a cultist not worshiping Dumah to claim it to be as powerful as his own God, does not fill me with confidence in my ability to permanently escape It.

Before anyone says anything, I know the risks of being in the company of cultists such as these... But Magog tells me that this particular coven has some unorthodox views in regards to their duty as Oathbreakers. He described the other covens as "mindless carriers." This is apparently because, while they spread illness as their God wishes... They do not always ensure the disease's survival and success. It is a... Matter of evolution. The Bacteria spread, the human body adapts, the Bacteria must then adapt and evolve past the human's defenses. Other Oathbreaker Covens do basic testing on live subjects before releasing the sickness. Magog's Coven runs an Asylum as it's cover. They do extensive testing on the patients to ensure the potency of the sicknesses. Then they build up the immune system of the patients and thereby force the sicknesses to adapt to infect them.

This is... Inhuman and torturous, yes... But it ultimately has a benevolent goal and is not mindless sadism like what... Morningstar did.

You see... Some of the patients within the Asylum are creatures known as The Camper. This one was... Difficult for me to understand and believe. Another of these creatures is something they call "The Ichor" and it is made of a strange ink. The ink is clear and... Extremely similar to water in appearance, feel and taste. It is however merely a part of the Collective Consciousness known as The Ichor. Now, ingestion of this ink will cause the human body to become addicted... 100% of the time they tell me, which I find unlikely. Once inside the body, the Ichor will seek to replace all fluids in the body with itself. The addiction will cause the unlucky individual to seek out more Ichor, which speeds the process of replacement along. When all fluids are consumed, The Ichor takes control. The result is an extension of the Ichor known as The Camper.

Unlike Dumah or The Good Doctor however, The Camper can be killed by conventional means. Albeit this is difficult. It also means they be restrained and held captive. Even experimented on. Which leads us to the point of this lengthy explanation.

By testing sickness on The Camper, which is merely an extension of one of these Creatures, the Oathbreakers seek to develop a virus that can kill The Ichor. And if they can kill one of these creatures... It stands to reason they can kill the others.

But it gets better.

The reason Magog contacted me in the first place, was because, to his knowledge, Roland and I are the first and only ones to be hunted by those Pale Men. Those Pale Men who bleed Black. According to Magog... This is likely the same kind of substance that flows through the body Dumah itself. So if we can capture a Pale Man. If we can develop a virus that can kill one...

Maybe we can kill Dumah.