The Path of the Grey

The Path of the Grey through Myth and Culture

The Grey begins its time in any new Shadowlands as nothing more than whisper of being. Fear of disorder. A desire for control. A flash of red or a reflective shine to the eyes of those who listen to the Grey as it whispers- first in their dreams and then during waking hours. The Grey prefers the dark and the cold. The grey prefers high altitudes and thin air and open spaces. And in these spaces one can hear the Grey more clearly.

And as one's story spins darkly out control, as impending doom approaches due to impersonal forces beyond one's control; then the Grey can sense one's mind and make its offer.

Grey Aliens

Assuming a physical form is possible for the Grey even in its weakest stages of development in this world. In its embryonic form, the Grey appears not unlike a Grey Alien: smooth grey skin, with an over sized head not unlike a Mayan Mummy. The eyes are black upon first inspection, but prove an impossible deep red if light its the eyes at the correct angle. The Grey will move itself as though gravity did not affect it, and without moving any of its body- levitating in total stillness with not limbs moving. Even as it grows in strength, the Grey will still assume this form in many dealings. It appears fond of the form.

The Grinning Man

A horrible precursor to the arrival of the Grey's more powerful Forms. The way will be paved for the Grey by a series of strange homunculi called the Grinning Men. They appear almost human, but their faces have no eyes, merely skin sunken into empty sockets with rictus grins cause by mouths with no lips. The Grinning Men speak without moving or opening their mouths, directly into the minds of the listeners without fail. They dress in anachronistic though formal clothing, ten or twenty years out of date. They do not walk, rather they simply appear in a different location when one blinks or looks away.

They act as evangelical ministers, spreading the word to those willing to hear the Grey's message. They offer warnings of impending real danger. They make promises of safety and good will. And they will insist that they "breath and eat and bleed as men do".

As people begin to listen to their warnings, and people will, despite their terrifying visage; the Grinning Men will begin to speak of a coming danger. And they will offer solace and safety through allegiance to their Elder: The Grey.

The Mothman

The Grey, like most elders, can assume an approximation of a human form once it has sufficient strength. Said form is a tall thin grey figure with reflective grey eyes. The Face looks like a strange mixture of insect and owl-like features- although without features or chitin. The avian/insect hybrid features are cast upon pallid grey skin stretched across a skull which appears overly large and elongated like a classic alien or a preserved Mayan mummy. The Grey wears a grey leather or skin cloak or overcoat which appears to merge with the body of the figure. The Interior of the coat is colored brown and umber and dusty ochre, in patterns which strongly suggest the wings of a moth. Sometimes, the figure will have hands separate from the cloak, sometimes the hands and arms will merge with the cloak. The cloak will move and spread like wings if the figure moves into the air.

The Grey makes sounds, but they are out of sync with it's movements. If it speaks, the mandibles in it's mouth will move after the words have been heard. The sounds of beating wings or scratching claws will come before or after the movements that should produce said sounds.

Ancient Astronauts theory

Stories have power, and the Grey and its homunculi will tell stories claiming credit for human advances int he Bonelands. They will claim increasing influence of the events depicted in recorded history. For as stories are retold, so does history change. As people come to revere the Grey, so does it's power grow. It devours the histories of other cultures and other gods to make itself strong. It will start with rumors and whispers, to make people talk about it. Then it will transform that talk into reverence. Then it will transform that reverence into religious fervor. And finally it will anchor that religious fervor with fear. And it will use that fear to institute control. And through control of the stories told, the Grey makes itself into the Elders and Gods and Demons and Spirits from other older stories. It travels back in time through the minds of those who believe its stories and remakes the history that they know.

And the world that these people live in becomes one where the Grey was always the one true God, and all other supernatural beings which survive in the cultural discourse are demons or evil spirits. The world becomes the story which people tell, and being born of fear becomes a god who rules through fear.

The Grey in more Depth

Fear is inescapable. Fear is inevitable. Heroes use fear as their sword and shield, as their drive and fuel. But some use fear as a cage within which they capture everyone, including themselves. In the hopes of total control, the Grey inspires the Locust King to cage and devour the world.

The Grey is a kidnapped infant demiurge. The grey as a reverse alien abduction. 'God' as an accidental prisoner from another story. Always an outsider to the story they infect. The Grey is an infant old one dragged into each new shadowland as an embodied hypersigil thoughtform by the desperate magick of the Locust and the Lion. The child godhead has been driven mad by fear and sensory overload in the new world. He is pain and fear and simple morality and id urges. Because demons and gods live in stories, the bootstrap Paradox is a viable option. The Lion and the Locust are faced with a Wendigo invasion. Wendigo are caused by the Locust touch and thus the Grey, but the paradox can eliminated if the Locust and Lion make the right choice in this retelling.

The Grey Locust/King and the Grey always start as Dead Gods from somebody else's story. They infect new stories. Pulled in when somebody else invokes and embodies their story as a means of power and/or survival. The Grey is anti life. It seeks silence and stillness and order. It seeks to make the world still . Because it is afraid. It is a being from the dark Era of the universe... when entropy has made everything uniform and dark and still. It can't handle the chaos and messiness of the Stellaferrous Era. And so it seeks to enforce order. It is a creature from the end of all stories. It does not understand middles.

Thus the Grey is not evil. The Grey is applying a morality that does not function in this story. It is not evil. It is alien. It is applying tools not appropriate to this world.

Some locations of the Southwestern Foglands

The Hart Stones

Venturing to the west in the Lowlands, psychonauts will enter the Skylines. And at the head of the great expanse of the Skylines, psychonauts will inevitably stumble upon the Hart Stones. A collection tall patterned stone menhirs which point travelers in the direction of City of Sleep to the south and the Skylines themselves to the west.

The Western Ruins

Past the skylines, carved into the earth across the great tractless lands, stand the Western Ruins. A series of monuments survive, but any metropolis associated with those monuments are all that remains.

The Broken Statues

The first of the ancient landmarks that the path marked by the Hart Stones that a traveler will find is the Broken Statues. This pair of enormous hollow statues are not in good repair, but psychonauts and scavengers can still dig around in the gigantic structures and risk the ire of the vermin that call the cracked colossi home. 

The Broke Stones

Two circles of massive standing stone stand just south of the Broken Ruins. As large as two men high, the stones are mostly still standing, although several have settled at angles or fallen entirely. On the Summer Solstice, the light of the setting sun will shine will mark a line between the two stone circles.

The Barrows

On the western border of the Sinister Valley stands a pair of earthen mounds raised above a pair of graves. Nature has reclaimed the mounds to such a state that unless one knows where to look, the Barrows can be quite hard to find. Grass has grown back across the earth, bushes and brambles have sprung through the rise in the dirt. 

The Dolmen

In the southwestern reach of the Skylines Region stand a pair of Dolmen: megalithic stone tombs that appear much more ancient that the other ruins in the west. Psychonauts who venture into the tombs will find that the two tombs are connected by a series of catacombs. But though the dolmen are ancient, the catacombs beneath are not empty. 

The North Central and Northeastern Region of the Foglands

The Spine of Glass

There is a version of the Glass Tower in all of the major Realms of the Shadowlands: The Foglands, the City of Glass, Arcadia and the Painted labyrinth. In the Foglands the tower is a twisted tower of malformed Glass bursting forth from the land like a boil and stretching into the sky. The surface of the Spine seems to be composed of glass formed when lightning strikes beach sand, opaque and marred by imperfections and pock marked holes that bore deep into the surface.

The Poison Tree

The Poison Tree coils around the Spine of Glass like Jormungand round the world tree. The fruit of the poison tree is sought by psychonauts of all stripes.

The Cave of the Cryptkeeper

The cliff that separates plateau from lowlands also divides the Canyon, with the Hollow Mountain marking the line between North and South. If Psychonauts wish to access the North of the Canyon, they must pass through the Cave of the Cryptkeeper.

The Drowned City

Surrounded by the Circle of Rust stands a vast inland Salt Sea, under which sits the great Drowned City. inhabited by slavers and scavengers, Wendigo and wanderers, the Circle of Rust is one of the few areas that welcomes outsiders and psychonauts, in much the same way that a spider welcomes a fly.

The Grave of Brine

A vast stagnant Salt Sea dominates the landscape of the Northeastern portion of the Foglands. Ancient rust encrusted towers push up from the black surface of the water, salt crystals crawling up their metal skins. Beneath the waters lurks the drowned city, and the things that make their home within the sunken ruins.

The Drowned City

If crumbling Babylon City marks the remains of the Capital of the Hungry Empire, the Drowned City is the gravesite of the once great economic center of the Hungry Empire. The rusted spires of antique towers peak from the oil waters like monsters hunting for prey.

The Circle of Rust

Not all of what is now called the Drowned City was engulfed by the grave of Brine. Some of the structures still stand upon dry land, though layered in several strata of salt. Scavengers continue to pick at the remains of this urban husk and sell their wares at the Salt Market.

The Asylum

The Last King has the Dead Forest and the Iron Gallows with which to dispatch those who displease him. The Salt Market uses the Asylum; a decaying old building that perhaps once served as hospital or prison, but which has deteriorated so far that the truth will be lost forever. Half submerged in salt crusted shores, the Scavengers of the Salt Market lower those deemed guilty or just unlucky into the Asylum to die, go mad or devour each other as a horde watches from the roof and gamble on the outcome.

The Salt Market

Seedy and dangerous, the Salt Market is the best place in the Foglands to obtain secret knowledge and dangerous goods. Little more than a sprawling colony of tents and shanties scavenged from the corpse of the Drowned City, the Salt Market is nonetheless the living heart of the Plateau.

The Burning Lands

A strange Collection of buildings Stands on the northwestern shore of the Brine, The plants there are locked in withered states, and creatures there are distorted dark mirrors of their intended forms. The Three-petal Flower design marks signs and buildings all through the the Burning Lands, and those who tarry too long there fall ill and do not recover.

The Last Daytower

Anomolous amongst the rusting structures the make of the bulk of the Circle of Rust and the Drowned City, stands the last Daytower. Build of sandstone, the last Daytower is a thin cylinder with a domed parapet at the top. A Polished metal mirror is aimed to catch the dawn's first light at winter solstice.

Jawbone Ridge

Inhabitants of the Plateau insist that Jawbone ridge, with its white protruding outcroppings, is the actual jawbone of the great being whose ribs stand over Ribcage Castle. But while the ribcage is clearly the remains of some great being, the ridge is less clearly part of any corpse. But still, the wind whips across the ridge in strange ways and wanderers and psychonauts alike will hear strange voices whispered on the cutting cold winds at the edge of the plateau.

A Few Brief Descriptions of Foglands Landmarks

Location: Foglands, Northwest Plateau, Ribcage

The Ribcage Castle

A vast monolithic ribcage rests upon the Northwestern edge of the plateau. The inhabitants of the plateau have made guesses at the origin of the enormous bones, some ancient kaiju father or mother of the Giants is a popular theory. In any case, resting in the embrace of the enormous ribs is the moldering ruins of Ribcage Castle. The last resting place of the line of the Locust King, the castle is largely abandoned in the era of the Foglands, inhabited only by scavenging monsters a few loyal locust-touched and the Last King himself.

Babylon City

During the Ten Thousand Years of Darkness, the City of Glass extended nearly across all the arable land of the known world, the remaining Free Tribes pushed to to the edges and the margins and the miserable places to survive with the independence intact. In the era of the Foglands, this has changed and all that remains of the expansive devouring City of Glass is a scattering of scavengers and refugees huddling in the remains of the Capital: Babylon City.

The Empty Quarter

Babylon City contracted during the declining years of the Ten Thousands of Darkness, drawing in resources and focusing upon the survival and illusory prosperity of the Capital. The Nobility spoke about making the Capital glorious once more, returning it to a previous golden age. But in the end, the Nobles merely drained the surrounding areas in monstrous parasitic fashion. And while most of the Old City of Glass has fallen in to such disrepair that a traveler might not realize they walked through ruins at all, the Empty Quarter still stands in the shelter of the castle walls as testament to what once ruled the known world.

The Dead Forest

Nobody survives who knows if the lines of metal poles outside the walls of Ribcage Castle were once used for different purposes. They now stand as a means of displaying the perceived traitors whom the Last King has had executed and then stuck on these steel poles for all to see. Travelers are warned that any who pass too near the Ribcage risk running a foul of the King's entourage of loyalists and being branded a traitor, for torture and execution of 'traitors' is one of the few indulgences left to the rotting court of the Last King.

The Iron Gallows

Among the forest of iron spikes rising up before the walls of Ribcage Castle is an enormous metal structure now used by the surviving Nobles as a gallows. Likely used for something other than execution during the heyday of the City of Glass, the structure is now a place of execution, perhaps a sign of the fall of the Hungry Empire which feeds upon itself in the era of the Foglands. 

The Gates of Sorrow

Babylon City and the Empty Quarter sit within the walls of Ribcage Castle, as does the Castle Keep itself. Even during the era of the Foglands the walls still stand tall, when the Hungry Empire has disintegrated and the Locust forces have been scattered and turned to scavenging and cannibalism. The only way to enter within the wall of Ribcage Castle is to enter through the front door: an enormous colossal thing known now as the Gates of Sorrow.

Locations of the Foglands in more depth

After leaving the Ring for the first time, the Foglands are where rookie psychonauts will end up.

 

The Plateau

The lands to the North stand upon a great shelf, rising above the rest of the landscape.

The Ribcage

In the Northwest stands the ruins of Ribcage Castle and the remains of Babylon City.

• The Ribcage Castle
  • The Ribcage Castle
  • Babylon City
  • The Empty Quarter
• The Dead Forest
  • The Iron Gallows
  • The Gates of Sorrow

The Canyon

A canyon runs North to South, a vast scar across the horizon.

• The Ghost Station
  • Inbound Station
  • Outbound Station
• The Spine of Glass
  • The Spine of Glass
  • The Poison Tree
• The Cave of the Cryptkeeper
  • The Upper Cave

The Drowned City

Surrounded by the Circle of Rust stands a vast inland Salt Sea, under which sits the great Drowned City.

• The Grave of Brine
  • The Drowned City
• The Circle of Rust
  • The Asylum
  • The Salt Market
  • The Burning Lands
  • The Last Daytower
• Jawbone Ridge

The Lowlands

To the South are the lowlands.

The Skylines

Amidst a stretching rocky desert are carved strange designs in the earth visible the sky: the so-called Skylines.

• The Hart Stones
• The Western Ruins
  • The Broken Ruins
  • The Broke Stones
  • The Barrows
  • The Dolmen
• The Buried Maze
• The Sinister Valley
  • The City of Sleep
  • The Boar Temple

The Canyon

A canyon runs North to South, a vast scar across the horizon.

• The Hollow Mountain
• The Odd Cemetery
  • The Great Cemetery
  • The Mausoleum
  • The Old Cemetery
  • The Cave of the Cryptkeeper
    • The Lower Cave
• The Ghost Station
  • The Southern Station

The Wastelands

The vast marsh and the Altar Stone: a strange monument sacred to the Giants, fill the Wastelands of the Southeast.

• The Marsh Wastes
  • The Haypenny Camp
  • The Witch Hut
  • The Fading Lake
    • The Stilt Shrine
    • The Glass Altar
• The Altar Stone
  • The Altar Stone
  • The Thinking Stone
  • The Weeping Stone
  • The Screaming Stone
• The Womb
  • The Torii Gate
  • The Kiva Hole
  • The Womb
    • The Cave of Joining
    • The Hidden Passage
    • The Innermost Cave
    • The Cave of Unborn Elders
• The Eastern Reach
  • The Totems
  • The Sky Altar
• The Tailbone

Rough Bits of the Foglands again

After leaving the Ring for the first time, the Foglands are where rookie psychonauts will end up.

The Plateau

The lands to the North stand upon a great shelf, rising above the rest of the landscape.

The Ribcage

In the Northwest stands the ruins of Ribcage Castle and the remains of Babylon City.

The Canyon

A canyon runs North to South, a vast scar across the horizon.

The Drowned City

Surrounded by the Circle of Rust stands a vast inland Salt Sea, under which sits the great Drowned City.

---

The Lowlands

To the South are the lowlands.

The Skylines

Amidst a stretching rocky desert are carved strange designs in the earth visible the sky: the so-called Skylines.

The Canyon

A canyon runs North to South, a vast scar across the horizon.

The Wastelands

The vast marsh and the Altar Stone: a strange monument sacred to the Giants, fill the Wastelands of the Southeast.