Bal-Sagoth: The Empyreal Lexicon

'''The Keeper of the Black Shard:''' So, it begins anew. The eternal struggle for mastery of the crystalline codex. I have forseen this day, the day when the Hound of Z'xulth would come seeking the Black Shard of power. Long ago, when this star did burn brightly with glorious and incandescent life, I was charged with the task of safeguarding this, the most dangerous shard of the Lexicon, keeping it from the grasp of those who would abuse its peerless potency. It is a mandate by which I shall abide, so long as the spark of life remains within my ancient form. So cold are the spaces between the stars... For blackened suns are the only legacy of worlds long dead.

'''Zurra:''' The key word of Transcendence! The key word of Transference! Enlightenment flows from the icosahedron! The Black Shard awaits my grasp, and with its power I shall liberate the rightful owners of the Lexicon... the true rulers of the cosmos! Hail the Z'xulth!
X'atham-ry'aa! Tha'zai-tonn!
Darker than a score of hells,
Wherein astral horrors dwell,
Macrocosmic realms aflame...
Prey of fiends that have no name!
X'atham-ry'aa! Tha'zai-tonn!
Darker than a score of hells...
Where astral horrors sublime dwell,
Macrocosmic realms aflame...
Bow to the gods that have no name!

'''The Keeper of the Black Shard:''' So cold, at the heart of a frozen star... Stay thy hand and thy tongue, slave of the Outer Darkness.... Surely you are not foolhardy enough to dare unshackle the dire titans of Z'xulth!

'''Zurra:''' Hidden within the blazing core of this sun is that which I seek, old one.
Do not seek to thwart me, lest the horrors of oblivion be a balm to your time-addled mind. Ages past I waged war side by side with the Z'xulth, smiting the ruin of our foes across the intricate tapestry of the cosmos, hammering the vaunted Kl'aa and their lap dogs to the brink of annihilation! With the liberation of my brethren, the universe shall once more tremble at the footfalls of its rightful rulers! The Lexicon shall be mine... Behold the cosmic codex! The tome of the astral abyss!

'''The Keeper of the Black Shard:''' By the eternal forefathers of the multiverse! Evil permeates your soul like gangrenous corruption within a baleful wound, stripling of Chaos! I witnessed your creation within the Spawning Vats of the Mera deep beneath the Pre-Cambrian oceans! A glorious experiment you were, the first genetic progeny of mighty Zuranthus, the great one whose genetic template was utilized for your genesis. And yet base treachery was afoot, as your matrix was tainted by the cells of a captive fiend of Z'xulth. Never have the myriad galaxies witnessed such reckless and unquenchable hatred... never has the cosmos beheld such unparalleled ire and corruption! Such diabolical evil... sublime macrocosmic malevolence!

'''Zurra:''' I have become far more than the Ersatz Ones ever intended! I was shunned by my creators, an outcast and an abberation... cast into the lightless depths of the Well of Black Flame... but I endured, and dreams of vengeance sustained me! I shall be father to the new master race which shall sweep across the cosmos and bring the glorious embrace of the Outer Darkness unto all the denizens of creation! The Z'xulth shall rule all, and the glory of their reign shall shine like an ireful beacon across the limitless expanses of the multiverse! All shall bow before us! Fear is the power... Terror is the key!
X'atham-ry'aa... Tha'zai-tonn!
I am replete with sovereign mastery! The portal to the Outer Darkness shall be open! They-Who-Lurk-And-Breed-In-Limbo shall be free!
I have won... bow, yield, kneel!
Darken the sun... Narra, Gorra, Kaasha!
I arise... bow, yield, kneel!
Parhelion dies... Narra, Gorra, Kaasha!
I can taste the sweet ichors of omnipotency upon my lips... Let it begin! The Black Shard shall be mine!
X'atham-ry'aa j'aiigh! Tha'zai-tonn nax'a-gorrha!

'''The Keeper of the Black Shard:''' By hoary Klatrymadon's ersatz wings! I am smitten by the diabolism of the Z'xulth Hound! Life drains from me, the stars flicker and fade in the heavens! I am undone by the envenomed blade of evil! And yet with my last breath, I shall summon those who may yet thwart your aspiration to power, Zurra spawn of Zuranthus! So cold, the spaces between the stars...

'''Zurra:''' X'atham-ry'aa... Tha'zai-tonn... The Black Shard is mine! Combined with the power of the icosahedron, this crystalline fragment shall magnify my nighted energies tenfold! With each new piece that falls into place, this grand cosmic puzzle inexorably continues to illumine my path to ultimate power! The Astral Gate shall yawn wide once more and my darksome ilk shall again know the glory of unfettered freedom... and together, we shall recover the remaining shards of the Lexicon and utterly annihilate the ancient foes of the Z'xulth! But first, I feel an audience with my renowned progenitor is long overdue... and yet I vow it will not be a favorable reunion! The blood of Zuranthus shall annoint my zircon blade, this I promise thee!

'''The Keeper of the Black Shard:''' Such carnage wrought with your malevolent tongue, dark one... What unfathomable horrors dwell within the lightless corners of your cursed soul? What will you do once the power of the codex is within your evil grasp? Be wary Zurra, for the Lexicon consumes all those who seek to manipulate its untenable might! Is your mind strong enough to wield the power of a god, o' stripling of Z'xulth? Heed not the voice of the Lexicon... lest its whispers drive you mad!