2 Ch2 - Ilsinsine

(The Astral Plane)

My view warps before me to behold a terrying sight. Floating metres away from me was a vast, no immeasurable verdant green brain pulsating and leaking cerebral fluids.

Before I could even begin to process my surroundings or environment, I felt my head squeeze as if in a vice-like grip. The very essence of my being was being squeezed like a zit this God has found.

'Reveal yourself to me fallen one' The voice spoke.

My mind hardly fought against this overwhelming power, it was futile. However, a new member that would fight for my mind staunchly came to my rescue.

[Scholarly system's mind barrier activated]

Immediately the pressure vanished, it truly felt like a second untimely death was about to befall me. An unnecessarily painful experience, one I would try not to go through again.

'Reveal yourself to me' It repeated.

…I don't think it's realised that I don't feel anything anymore, that's a little but embarrassing for him- or it, I don't think it exactly has a gender of choice. "Who- no What are you?" I shouted to the being"

A short pause preceded its response 'I am Ilsinsine God of knowledge, mind and dream. And you are a new being, one I do not know of'

A god? I imagine from its domain, it's simply curious about me… Wait did it say Ilsinsine, the god of mind flayers? Shiiiiiiiiit, how exactly do I escape this, it's not exactly a good god from what I know. "Well uh- hi Ilsinsine, I'm Charles, a nomad… former nomad, now I'm a ghost/spectre of some kind"

'Tell me Charles what you are, you are not of these realm, I know. Should your knowledge prove sufficient you may receive my boon'

Realistically if I tell it about the multiverse what will it do? If it could escape then it would've already known of the multiverse, and it would probably be erased by some other power beyond here. I begun to weight the pros and cons of explaining the full story or what to leave out, perhaps even making up a brand new story.

"Do you know about the multiverse theory? Where every reality imagined or not exists somewhere past your own? Well I'm from one of the realities there, I think I somehow fell past my universe's afterlife into the space between."

Moments passed between the us, the only noise made was the sickly convulsing of the mass of brain before me. Ooze leaked from the writhing veins and scalded the floor below it.

'That has been most useful, a new goal has been set for my empire. One larger than any we could imagine. You have had your use, begone.'

"Wha-?"

(Avernus)

Sent flying down once again I could finally bear the inertia to slow myself down to a steady pace. I felt a very weird sense of nostalgia as I looked at the red hellscape below me and compared it to the hellscape from my own universe. I felt right at home… yay.

[New feature added: Boon of the Knowledge God

- Ascended mind

- Illithid ally

- Telepathic speech enabled

These can be accessed from your 'Abilities' section]

"Holy shit!" I said to myself, half from the rewards and half from still processing BEING SENT THROUGH TIME AND SPACE. All I did was travel! Why do I have to be a ghost in D&D?

The lands around me are deserted and arid, the sand looks hot to the touch and the smell matches it. Distant spires scrape the sky, each with banners and craggy mountain peaks surrounding them. Campsites in the distance along with a few corpses scattered sparingly.

[Orientation available: access y/n]

I sighed, at least something good will come from having a cataclysmic event happen to you. I click yes on the blue hard-light screen in front of me.

[The Scholarly system is a non-growth type system that rewards you based on the quality and quantity of knowledge on certain subjects of your choice. Once a month you may choose a topic to be assessed on and rewarded from.

Congratulations are in order, you have this system. You may choose one piece of knowledge to reach level4 with no exam]

"Level 4? I have no idea what that means, kind of a bad orientation honestly. I suppose I'll have to choose something you can't easily learn or something restricted. I'll think on it whilst I get my bearings"

"Speaking of which, I feel like I haven't mentally addressed the fact I'm a ghost. Still a ghost in what looks like hell, not exactly the best starts to a journey. But a journey's a journey I guess." I continue rambling to myself before I hear a great noise in the distance, great gusts of fire, odd sci-fy noises and explosions.

I turn to see what the noise could possibly be and it's the nautiloid. THE nautiloid, where the player's character first starts, gains a sense of the game and meets the party. I just have to go on it don't I? I wouldn't forgive myself if I didn't.

Utilising my flight I float through the underbelly of the ship, past the dragons and to the helm. Upon entry I witness a deadlock between a mind flayer and a cambion, and githyanki fighter fighting some imps to try and get to the main controller. I can only speculate that Lae'zel left Shadowheart as she was deemed 'dead weight'.

Lae'zel seems to have it handled, so I go into the Ethereal plane and float over to Shadowheart's pod. I exit the ethereal plane before talking, "You need some help there?"

Unfortunately for me, she suddenly started screaming and violently thrashing in her pod for about 10 seconds. Is that a ghost thing? (The answer is yes [Horrifying Visage]) "Oh my god are you okay? Sorry if I upset you, I thought you wanted to get out of the pod"

Between heaves of breath, she finally responded. "Wait! Yes please help me! I'm sorry, you just… surprised me is all." I don't know who she thinks she's fooling with that, but it's not me.

So I respond, "Yeh of course, I get it, no worries. I think I saw one of the mind flayers take something over here earlier, I'll get it for you." I fly off to get the eldritch inscription… eldritch, maybe the lovecraftian pantheon is a good choice for my lv4, I could get some benefit out of that.

Pushing it out of my mind, I know we're on a time limit here, I use the inscription to insert it into the controller freeing her. She falls over in front of the pod once released and starts stretching, I can't stretch anymore but I just know that felt good for her.

"Thank you for saving me there, I'm Shadowheart, a cleric." She goes to offer her hand to me before realising I'm a ghost or a spectre of some kind, "Sorry to ask, but are you a ghost? or an illusion?"

"Ah no I'm the real deal, just died today in fact! Quick, painless but absolutely terrifying on the fall down, not the worst way to go." I joke to alleviate the mood. "Anyway there's a githyanki lady in the helm that's about to land us, I recommend you brace yourself for a harsh landing."

Once I say that, the ship shudders before transporting us to a new area. From my experience in the game, I could guess it was the sword coast. I go to the ethereal realm to avoid any damage, whereas Shadowheart crawls back in the pod and closes it as a good form of shelter.