Silence. Apprehension. All within Sapience held their breaths, as the
surface of the ocean rippled beside the now eradicated Shastaan. The
Kerrithrim had come once more, as if the very ocean itself had conceived
the creature. Slowly, but steadily, the monster rose and rose, as it
took heavy steps towards the shoreline. Its form once more dominated its
surroundings, as the creature came to its full height to tower over the
land.

Panicking, the dwarven engineer, Rhulin immediately yelled for the
immediate retrieval of the catapults. Voice tight with panic and hands
trembling from anticipation, the engineer quickly began a hurried lesson
on the usage of the catapults. Many came, and started to move the
catapults toward the Kerrithrim, but it was Severn, the Manipulator who
acted first against the Abyssal Horror. As if in waiting, shadows
surrounding the Kerrithrim quickly wrapped around the creature as it
stepped upon the shore, in attempt to impede its progress. His attack
incomplete, shadows began to recede from the entire realm, as the
Manipulator began to draw His power together for His next barrage. In
response to the quick action of the Manipulator and in attempt to impede
the Kerrithrim's seemingly unstoppable path of rampage, the Earthen
Lord, Ivoln, tore the Raphaelan highway in two, creating what appeared
to be a bottomless pit.

However, it was the cloud of dust from the Earthen Lord's destruction of
the highway that obscured and enraged the Kerrithrim, as it came to pass
over Shastaan, causing the creature to swat at the dust and debris to no
effect. Its effect was only momentary, however, for the soon the
Kerrithrim began to stride through it. As the monstrous creature arrived
beside the Raphaelan Highway, drops of its blood from the grievous wound
struck by the God of Valour marred the landscape beneath, dripping from
its tentacles.

In its pause, a roiling mass of thunderclouds quickly converged around
the Kerrithrim, bolts of lightning arcing towards like cracked whips,
tearing the ground asunder wherever they struck. It was not long before
the clouds parted to reveal the sight of a mysterious Goddess, wreathed
by wisps of air and water. Calling out towards the creature, the Goddess
enthused the Kerrithrim to cease its attacks, for She was its Master. As
she descended to her beloved pet, the monstrosity responded in kind,
sending a tentacle to caress its master in affection. The contact,
however, proved a dangerous mistake; for as the Almighty Kerrithrim
touched the Goddess, it immediately began to try crushing the Goddess'
arm. Shrieking loudly in pain, the Goddess' form began to waver, and
suddenly the ripple of shadows gives way to reveal the form of the
Manipulator.

With grim resolution, the God summoned His Blade of Artifice to hack
away at His arm to free Himself, before immediately retreating; shadows
trailing behind His path. Blade still steady within His remaining arm,
the Manipulator tore asunder the very fabric of reality, creating a rift
into the Shadow Plane. As He stepped through the Rift, the God turned to
give a fateful glance toward the monster and one of the fists of the
Abyssal Horror struck at the deity; sending His crumpled form flying
through the rift as a stream of pure white essence sped away from it.

In the meantime, those who manned the catapults positioned the bulky
equipment beside Delos, ready to strike at the creature. However, as the
operators of the catapult began to fire brave combatants haplessly onto
the Raphaelan Highway instead of the Kerrithrim, Rhulin was forced to
return and give yet another hurried lecture.

As the mortals once more began to aim for the body of the creature,
however, the Lady Dreamer began Her attack too. The Goddess Omei
materialized in midair, though it wavered uncertainly as She began Her
charge in the form of a Rajamalan Huntress. As she neared the abyssal
creature, Her appearance shifted and boiled, morphing into various
creatures both known and unknown, before striking into the Kerrithrim in
a guise not unlike its own. The creature, however, was unfazed by the
Goddess' attack, and responded in kind with an angry, yet careless
strike. The creature's fist collided with the Dreamer with such force
that Her very form dissolved into an immeasurable mass of moths, before
descending upon the Ithmia.

Next to respond to the threat of the creature was the God of Death
Himself, calling at the Kerrithrim to face its judgment for its crimes.
Without hesitation or apprehension, Dhar raised His gloved hands up
towards the sky, calling forth a pillar of white flame to singe the
giant hulking form of the seemingly indomitable Kerrithrim. The pain
such that it could not endure, the Kerrithrim's cry echoed throughout
Sapience, resounding almost deafeningly as the monster transformed its
pain into rage, and lashed out at the Underking. Though the God is able
to avoid the agile attacks of the creature for a moment, a fateful
strike at the back of the rapidly tiring God was enough to cause even
Him to stagger in agony. Tendrils of essence pouring from the ashen
wound, the flames over the Abyssal Horror began to extinguish, having
lost its source of power.

Sensing its upper hand over the fallen God, the Kerrithrim immediately
raised its gargantuan foot in attempt to crush the Underking, but in a
moment of desperation, the God struck at the earth beneath Him, tearing
the land asunder with a flash of blinding light. From within the rift,
thousands of translucent forms of varying shapes and sizes began to flow
out, collecting into a single unified force before closing into the
Kerrithrim with blinding speed. Souls from the Underworld, they were
able to momentarily stun the Kerrithrim, as the Underking threw Himself
through His created rift, sealing it behind Him. The souls dissipated
soon after, leaving the Kerrithrim unopposed once more.

Without ado, a tumescent glimmer in the distant horizon preceded the
arrival of the Sky God Galleus, clutching the staff of the Triptych
Lemniscate. With one powerful movement, the Sky Sovereign hurled His
staff at the Kerrithrim, spinning in extreme speed as it neared the
giant form of the Kerrithrim. The Kerrithrim did not deem the attack as
remotely dangerous, as with indifference, it simply swatted the
projectile away, and struck at the God from its great distance away. The
lash connected with Galleus' face, it tore out His eye, causing the Sky
Sovereign to scream in pain as mercurial blood streamed out from the
deep gash. Filled with abject pain and unfamiliar blindness, the God
conjured spiraling torrents of wind that churned the earth beneath Him
ineffectually. A churning in the deep belly of the Horror gripped the
God's now empty gaze only for a moment, causing the God to retreat
hastily into the starscape before the Kerrithrim was able to strike once
more.

However, more trials awaited the monster as the armies of various
villages and towns amassed, to face the Kerrithrim in what seemed to be
a suicidal march. From the necromancers of Tasur'ke, to the Nazetu of
Bloodloch, and to the bandits of Three Rock, everyone in Sapience united
to face the creature, in attempt to stave off its destruction as the
brave fighters launched themselves at the Kerrithrim's body. There, they
faced hundreds of the mind-controlling Thrim, latching themselves at
whoever was closest and turning allies into enemies. The group of
attackers persevered, however; managing to drive the Thrim and those
controlled by it back, coming to the grievous wound left by the fallen
God of Valour. It was there that the attackers reopened the wound, and
through that, entered the very body of the foul creature itself, to
strike at where it was truly vulnerable - its great heart.

Before long, jade-tinged clouds began to form over the giant Kerrithrim,
the form of the Goddess Chakrasul barely visible within its mass. Heavy
acidic rain began falling from the jade clouds to descend upon the
creature, causing it to shudder and utter a chilling cry that echoed
throughout Sapience once more. Before the Kerrithrim could retaliate,
however, the Goddess called forth seeds of Corruption from the Nazetu
troops of Bloodloch, sending them spiralling downwards towards the
Kerrithrim and causing it to stumble further. Angered, the Kerrithrim
turned its attention towards the Nazetu. Intervening, the Goddess Iosyne
appeared with a flash of light, speaking words of lost tongue that
seemed to agitate the Kerrithrim, distracting it from attacking the
troops.

Throughout the Pantheon's relentless attacks on the Kerrithrim, however,
the attackers within the creature's body cleft and hewed their way first
through the creature's esophagus, then into its intestinal tracts. From
the gut of the creature, the attackers found themselves fighting hordes
upon hordes of the neverending Thrim, before the Blackwind Lieutenant
Sryaen was able to cut through a vein to reveal the way to the heart of
the great Kerrithrim. As they entered, the attackers were faced with a
fierce Thrim resistance, overwhelming most that were there. It was the
Dreadlord Missari and the Azudim Warlord Mazzion who were able to battle
on, destroying the heart of the Kerrithrim in the process.

The effect was instantaneous - the Almighty Kerrithrim arched backwards
in agony, a deafening roar escaping its gaping maw as the creature bent
forward and vomited violently. Its green ichorous blood poured out from
its mouth as it faltered, carrying with it the attackers within its body
and depositing them onto the highway. The gargantuan form of the
Kerrithrim began quaking in its pain and agony, sending both Thrim and
attackers flying from its body. Toppling over, now weakened, the
creature fell backwards into the crevasse that was once the Raphaelan
Highway, its persistent roaring continuing as it fell through - and it
is never heard to strike bottom.

Sapience breathed a sigh of relief, having finally felled the creature
that had so devastated its landscape. However, it is not long before
breaths are held once more, as a mottled, battered hand flies up from
within the chasm, grabbing hold on the ledge. Deafening snarls echoed
upward from the chasm and it was not long before yet another of the
Kerrithrim's hands joined its struggle to climb up once more. Red light
burst outward from the black recess and the monster levered itself
upward, propping its form against the edge of the chasm on its elbows.
Green blood streamed from the creature's broken face, many of its eyes
put out by the fall.

Was the Kerrithrim truly so unstoppable? Was it truly so invincible? It
began to drag itself onto the highway once more, dragging its way inch
by laborious inch, before it collapsed onto the highway with a wet,
ichor-like wheeze. Giving a final, vengeful glare, however, the
Kerrithrim fell beside the chasm, and stirred no more.

At last, the Abyssal Horror was finally defeated, and no longer did it
terrorize Sapience. The experience was not without effect, however, for
now the mystery of whence the Kerrithrim came from has arisen. The
question burned in the minds of many mortals, for whose form did the
Manipulator assume, and why did the Goddess claim that the Kerrithrim
was Her pet? What was conclusive, however, was that the arrival of the
Kerrithrim has revealed to all within Sapience that there is still much
to the world that is unknown to mortal mind.


Penned by my hand on the 16th of Haernos, in the year 277 MA.