Jackal Among Snakes

In planning for this heist, they’d long ago discussed in detail how, precisely, things would play out. Argrave ran through his words in his head as the Alchemist disassembled a wall in this pitch-black place.

“There are a few pivotal things we need to keep in mind about Erlebnis’ realm,” Argrave explained. “The most important responsibility of all—we cannot allow ourselves to confront Erlebnis directly. Going to the White Planes has protected us from the pressure exerted by divinity, but that doesn’t change the fact he can squash us with a wave of a hand. If we do succeed in bringing Mozzahr over, I suspect that Erlebnis will dedicate most of his attention to that monstrosity rampaging through his realm in search of an exit. That’ll be a big boon, allowing freedom of movement.

“There are a few locations, however, where Erlebnis has omniscience, and he’ll spot us regardless.” Argrave continued. “The Lexicons—the areas that serve as a nexus between all of the Annals of the Universe—are off limits. He’ll spot us in seconds, and considering its role as a place of quick movement, thousands of his emissaries will be upon us before we can blink. In other words… we’re on foot, and on our own.”

Snapped back to focus when a piece of the wall fell, Argrave looked at all of his companions. Everyone seemed just as paranoid as he felt, flinching at the distant rumblings Mozzahr caused as he searched for them. Argrave felt quite exposed without the protection of the Domain of Law, but they were very nearly free of this place.

Finally, red light fell upon them, causing everyone to flinch away. The Alchemist pulled the rest of the wall away, using his body to push past.

“Come. Mozzahr will notice this exit for certain,” the Alchemist said, beckoning them onward.

They all rushed into the new hole, eager to be free of this dark chamber. And once outside, they entered into Erlebnis’ realm in its more complete state. Though they all were eager to move, the sheer oddity of this place made their steps falter for a brief moment.

Erlebnis’ emissaries were hollow mockeries of humans and elves with misshapen hands, enlarged limbs, and misplaced orifices. They were wrong in a way that unsettling and uncanny. His realm was a continuance of that trend—almost a copy of the world of mortals, but wrong so obviously and so unrepentantly that it only rattled the nerves.

Above, the sky was red and metallic, and rippled as though it was a liquid with strong winds gusting over its surface. Whatever the sky was, it illuminated the entire area in red light that lent a bleak and hellish atmosphere to it all. But it was what was on the ground that truly disturbed the senses.

beige nor a rich oak, but a dirty and foul color like mud. They looked as though they were built of bricks, but that wasn’t the case. Close scrutiny

call it avant-garde. In reality, it was a disgusting blend of thousands of different styles. Eastern Asian buildings stood next to Victorian buildings, lopsided and lumpy and simply wrong. The reason for the ugliness was simple: Erlebnis and his servants had the knowledge and execution to make these buildings stand, but

abominable city. Looking back, the area that they’d come from was a giant cube the same color brown as the rest of the city. It

he saw his arms extend, twist, and writhe out of his clothing. But he knew to remain calm—it was all a trick of the mind. This was another helping hand that Rook, god of deception and subterfuge, lent to them. They were required to steal something with divine power to return that favor, either here

part of

reached the city, where living things entered into sight, they parted ways and took different paths without further words. Erlebnis’ grotesque emissaries wandered the streets, pulling books from the walls and the streets and indulging in them with measured precision. There were trees and bushes planted into pots and little gardens, but the trunks of the trees were bone covered by a thin layer of skin, the leaves were hardened needles of

the Alchemist had said, Mozzahr had found the hole

Erlebnis!” Mozzahr’s voice echoed out across the realm, drawing attention from all parties. “Argrave!” He screamed, drawing out the name. Even so

seemed to be seized by an invisible thought, and thousands of them broke away from their task to go confront Mozzahr. They stepped out of the city as Argrave stepped within, alone. Though none moved to stop him, and though countless had just left to deal with this new threat of Mozzahr, the emissaries still made this place dense. It was all he could do to avoid bumping into them, and his heart beat fast with the knowledge that drawing attention meant dozens of emissaries would fall

a long while, every street that Argrave walked through, every alley he looked down, and every building he poked his head inside had an emissary busily engaged in a task. Argrave feared every misshapen eye that came his way, and flinched every time his foot hit the ground. He was transformed, but he felt they must

comfort as he heard the sounds of fire, lightning, and general destruction

entered his head. “Meet at the large domed building. Anneliese’s Starsparrow is perched atop the spike cresting it. She says she

gold amidst the brown. Though he felt the need to sprint, he managed a natural walk toward it, wading through the alleys and streets with grace he didn’t realize

entered the lobby, he cringed when he saw about a dozen emissaries on its floor. He briefly questioned if he’d gone into the wrong place when Elenore’s voice came into his head once

upstairs,” she told him. “She says there’s a ladder

Others followed him, and he managed to recognize his companions’ faces in the monstrosities that they were disguised as. They all reached the second floor, found the