The Outsiders
Every night the Weeping Moon rises over Alyria. It is an offense against the sky, a gaping wound in the canopy of heaven. Its lurid light drenches the landscape in bloody shadows. But it is more than a mere eyesore. It is an omen of doom. It is the harbinger of the end of all things. It is the sign that the Outsiders have finally found Alyria.
The individual Outsider is not all that impressive. Barely larger than a mite, the blood-red organism is almost devoid of intelligence or ability, driven by mere instinct to feed. However, there is more to these creatures than meets the eye. For each individual mite is part of the greater whole, and each can act as a cell in a greater organism, a communal entity, with each individual cell contributing strength and intelligence to the whole. Usually the macro-organism is content to lay idle in a form that is similar to a viscous liquid. However, when the need arises, it can extrude tentacles, limbs, eyes, and more. It can even form an entire body, molded to its desires. It can be anything it needs to be.
However, it is limited by its color. Always the Outsiders are red. They can do many things, but they cannot change the color of their skin. Disguise seems to be out of the question…or is it? There are some who breathe rumors of men, drained of blood and internal organs, animated by an Outsider macro-organism. The “blood” coursing through its veins was nothing more than thousands and thousands of tiny Outsider mites. Just imagine. Your lost loved one comes stumbling out of the woods, cut and bleeding. You reach out to steady him and he looks up at you with soulless eyes as the blood begins to crawl up your arm and into your body....
This is why the Weeping Moon is blood red. Its surface is covered with the Outsider swarm. Every so often a colony achieves sufficient mass to disconnect from the moon and fall down onto Alyria as a fine blood rain. So far, Alyria has not fallen to their assault simply because it is so big. The inhabited area of the planet is a small island compared to the enormous vastness of the Sea of Mist. Still, all too often droplets from the Weeping Moon patter down in the inhabited lands. It is only a matter of time before the swarm spreads across all the land, consuming all who stand before its crimson wave.
The individual Outsider is not all that impressive. Barely larger than a mite, the blood-red organism is almost devoid of intelligence or ability, driven by mere instinct to feed. However, there is more to these creatures than meets the eye. For each individual mite is part of the greater whole, and each can act as a cell in a greater organism, a communal entity, with each individual cell contributing strength and intelligence to the whole. Usually the macro-organism is content to lay idle in a form that is similar to a viscous liquid. However, when the need arises, it can extrude tentacles, limbs, eyes, and more. It can even form an entire body, molded to its desires. It can be anything it needs to be.
However, it is limited by its color. Always the Outsiders are red. They can do many things, but they cannot change the color of their skin. Disguise seems to be out of the question…or is it? There are some who breathe rumors of men, drained of blood and internal organs, animated by an Outsider macro-organism. The “blood” coursing through its veins was nothing more than thousands and thousands of tiny Outsider mites. Just imagine. Your lost loved one comes stumbling out of the woods, cut and bleeding. You reach out to steady him and he looks up at you with soulless eyes as the blood begins to crawl up your arm and into your body....
This is why the Weeping Moon is blood red. Its surface is covered with the Outsider swarm. Every so often a colony achieves sufficient mass to disconnect from the moon and fall down onto Alyria as a fine blood rain. So far, Alyria has not fallen to their assault simply because it is so big. The inhabited area of the planet is a small island compared to the enormous vastness of the Sea of Mist. Still, all too often droplets from the Weeping Moon patter down in the inhabited lands. It is only a matter of time before the swarm spreads across all the land, consuming all who stand before its crimson wave.
posted by Seth Ben-Ezra at 1/01/1990 01:26:00 AM
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