And that's when the madness starts.
The Emperor's Tarot card in Pass's hand bursts into ghostly sickly-green fire. The air becomes filled with an overpowering stench of rotten meat, and all of you feel a nasty wet crawling sensation on your skin - as if you're trying to wade through some great beast's intestines. Pass's eyes snap open, and you see the same green flame burning bright in them.
She opens her mouth to speak, yet instead of her already familiar accent, you hear a cacophonous chorus of many different voices. Screaming and whispering, mewling and commanding, barking and gibbering, they chant the same words in unison. Most disturbingly, it appears that these sounds do not traverse the air towards ears, but instead echo directly inside your heads:
"The witch who saw her mind defiled by her masters
Finds a new master, who defiles her in turn.
The valiant soldier, waging a righteous war
Is betrayed by those he has sworn to defend.
The pious priest who sang hymns to the Emperor's glory
Learns, to his regret, who has really heard his tune.
The cunning killer who studied the way of death
Discovers only death, and no way.
While the lost one who wandered away from the beaten path
Finds out firsthand what lurks in the darkness beneath the trees."
Suddenly, everything is silent. As you look around, you see thousands of corpses that used to be the forge-world's inhabitants, before violent death found them. Ghastly creature cavort among the carnage, feasting on the slain and paying you no heed. You lower your gaze, and see that your own hands are covered in thick blood, and display clear signs of mutation. With a sinking feeling, you begin to understand: this is the future of the Magna Alpha - and you are the one doomed to bring it about.
As though confirming your revelation, the hellish voices speak to you again:
"This is the road of human descent
And at its end you'll find
A city-graveyard for mankind.
Ruined wreckage, walls all rent asunder,
No music, but the echoed thunder.
No garb but shrouds.
The apex of man's effort only this:
To choke each humble breath from out the proud
And taste the ghastly flavor of flame's kiss."
The vision fades, the voices fall silent. You find yourself back on the battlefield.
And as you prepare to meet your foes' onslaught, a nagging question at the back of your head remains: How will you be able to live with your newfound forbidden knowledge?
