Grimoire Doloris
The Book of Contamination
◀ Chapter 2 · Chapter 3 · Chapter 4 ▶

¹Lo, the shadow of death spread swift upon the land, as unseen harbingers did smite the multitude with grievous plague and lamentation.
²The pestilence, like a ravening wolf, did devour both lowly and highborn alike, sparing neither hearth nor hall within its fell embrace.
³From city walls to hamlets small, the breath of contagion passed, turning fair countenances to pallid shades and hearts to heavy sorrow.
⁴The cries of the afflicted filled the air, and no healer’s skill nor potent balm could stay the relentless march of suffering.
⁵Mothers did weep o’er lifeless babes, and fathers stood bereft, their strength undone by the cruel hand that took their kin away.
⁶The wise and the learned could scarce discern the cause of this great scourge, for it passed unseen as mist upon the moor.
⁷The skies themselves seemed heavy with woe, and the sun hid its face behind clouds of mourning, withholding warmth from a grieving Oærth.
⁸Unto the prophets came visions dire, revealing the plague’s dread course, and its purpose to rend the bonds of pride and folly among men.
⁹The lands lay desolate, their fields untended, and the cries of abandoned beasts echoed through empty pastures and shattered barns.
¹⁰Amidst the silence, the voice of the pestilence whispered of decay and despair, of the fleeting nature of flesh and the dominion of death.
¹¹Cities once bustling with trade and laughter became tombs of quietude, their streets haunted by ghosts of those who fled and those who fell.
¹²Men turned upon their fellows, fearful of the breath they drew, and friendships sundered as suspicion spread more swiftly than the contagion.
¹³The wise counsels of elders were ignored, for fear did rule the hearts of men, and reason fled before the rising tide of dread.
¹⁴The servants of ADONAI and the ministers of idols alike knelt in prayer, yet the skies seemed deaf to lamentations and cries for mercy.
¹⁵The Oærth drank deep of the tears shed by the living, and the bones of the dead lay uncounted in hastily dug graves.
¹⁶The harbingers of plague were no strangers to mercy, but wrought destruction as ordained by the dark hand that wielded unseen power.
¹⁷Exanthis beheld the woe with heavy heart, and trembled at the weight of the burden placed upon his mortal soul.
¹⁸The vision showed him the vastness of the scourge, stretching beyond hills and rivers, consuming whole kingdoms as though they were straw.
¹⁹Yet within the darkness, a spark of purpose shone; the Lord of Shadows bade him to proclaim the coming of this dire fate.
²⁰Go forth, Exanthis, spake the voice; and declare unto the peoples that the pestilence shall rise as a whirlwind, swift and unrelenting.
²¹Tell them to prepare their hearts, for the days of trial draw nigh, and none shall stand against the power that walks unseen among them.
²²The empire of man shall tremble before the sickness that knoweth no mercy, and all flesh shall learn the frailty of their earthly bonds.
²³Exanthis fell to his knees, speechless and shuddering, yet the command rang clear within his mind as a clarion call to duty.
²⁴The vision faded, but the weight of its truth abode within him, a flame that would not be quenched by doubt or despair.
²⁵The pestilence marched on, its shadow growing ever longer across the lands of men, unbound by walls or gates, nor prayers or pleas.
²⁶The folk fled in terror from their neighbours, yet found no sanctuary, for the breath of death followed swift as the hunter’s arrow.
²⁷Towns once strong with stone and steel crumbled before the tide of sickness, their streets stained with tears and blood of countless souls.
²⁸The graveyards swelled beyond their bounds, and the Oærth groaned beneath the weight of the fallen, crying out for respite.
²⁹The priests lifted their voices in lament, yet found no answer but silence, and the people despaired for the days to come.
³⁰In the midst of this darkness, Exanthis journeyed among the scattered remnant, bearing the heavy words of warning and the solemn charge from above.
³¹Hearken, O ye who dwell upon the Oærth, quoth he; for the days of reckoning are at hand, and the pestilence shall not be stayed.
³²Turn from thy pride and folly, seek mercy in the eyes of thy Lord, and prepare thy spirit for the trials that shall come.
³³The great scourge shall not discern between the just and the unjust; all shall taste the bitterness of its passage.
³⁴But from the ashes of desolation may yet rise the hope of renewal, if hearts be made contrite and hands be joined in repentance.
³⁵The voices of many rose in fear and sorrow, yet few heeded the prophet’s words, for the shadow of death made men deaf to all but their dread.
³⁶Yet Exanthis pressed on, undaunted by rejection, his heart aflame with the purpose bestowed by the dark vision.
³⁷The land itself seemed to weep with the people, its soil parched and cracked beneath a sun that refused to shine bright.
³⁸The pestilence left no corner untouched; fields grew barren, wells ran dry, and famine whispered upon the winds that bore the stench of death.
³⁹Among the survivors, stories grew of spirits walking unseen, bringing both fear and awe to the hearts of mortals.
⁴⁰Some cried out for deliverance, others cursed the skies, but none could deny the grievous hand that wrought such ruin upon the Oærth.
⁴¹Exanthis’ footsteps grew weary, yet his spirit was girded with resolve, for he knew the path laid before him was fraught with peril.
⁴²Thus the vision’s shadow lengthened, and the word of the coming scourge echoed from hill to vale, from city gate to lonely hut.
⁴³So began the days of darkness and trial, when man’s frailty was laid bare, and the breath of death swept swift across the face of the Oærth.


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