My movements were not my own. My body, my mind, none of it was my own any longer. There was no fighting it, no resisting it. I was enveloped with a singular motivation. I must serve Selroc. I must serve Selroc. The message rang through my every cell, like the beating of my heart, carrying its control over me all throughout my now corrupted form. I wish I could say that I didn’t remember what happened next. I wish I could forget what that monster made me do while he had his hold over me.
Go, bring more to me. boomed Selroc’s voice through my mind.
I felt a wave of excitement wash over me. This was it, the chance to serve! To make him proud! My arms cut their way through the water propelling me outward and down the side of the tower, my eagerness adding to my newfound strength.
I must serve Selroc. I must serve Selroc. thumped my thoughts.
I was so ecstatic I almost didn’t realize I wasn’t alone. I had a retinue of other corrupted creatures of the deep with me. Scions, sahuagin, sharks. A dozen of us moving as a frenzied school. All of us knew without ever being told that Selroc wanted prisoners.
I must serve Selroc. I must serve Selroc. The rhythm continued.
The alleys and buildings raced passed, almost as though we were racing to be the first to make Selroc happy. After some time, we all scrambled into the square. At the center was a large pit, domed with energy. Our quarry lay in that pit and with haste we all made our way over to the main guard. No words were needed, he knew why we were there, he’d done this dozens of times already. The guard raised his hand and with a closing of his fist he formed a platform of ice- and the descent of that platform, like the falling of the executioner’s axe, spelled death for the unlucky souls below. As I stood on the platform, looking out over the mass of sobbing, brokenhearted people… well, it pains me to say, the hold Selroc has on me simply imparted an excitement.
I must serve Selroc. I MUST serve Selroc.
The platform landed on the bottom of the pit. The sobbing turned to a fearful silence. Those poor prisoners knew what came next. I knew what came next. As I, and a few other Selroc’s thralls approached, they stared us down. The hopelessness in those eyes still keeps me up at night sometimes.
I grabbed one of the prisoners, began to pull her away, to bring her to my master. As a voice cried out, “NO! Take ME instead! Spare her!”, a young boy had started.
“What are you doing child??”, the woman called back.
“Please, don’t take my mother! She’s done nothing– We’ve done nothing to deserve this! Just take me instead.” the boy yelled out, stepping forward, tears streaming from his eyes.
I must serve Selroc. I MUST SERVE SELROC! Crescendoed the thought
With no choice or action to call my own, I kicked the boy back towards the crowd. My monstrous form affording him no opportunity to retaliate or respond. In a crumpled heap on the ground, he looked up, blood and tears now streaming down his face in tandem.
“Mother…” he wheezed.
Knowing that any further delay would spell only more strife, the mother stopped resisting and came with our cursed group, along with seven or eight other prisoners. As we stepped onto the platform, each of us holding onto our “gifts” for the master, I hardly recognized anything, noticed anything. Only one thought rang through my mind overpowering every other sense and idea.
I. MUST. SERVE. SELROC.
-The Journals and Chronicling of the Sea Monster by the Great and Glorius, Tariq Daynjerine
